我和朋友淑琪坐在海灘的巨石上，觀看波浪翻起層層的白色浪花。看著海浪不斷湧來，一波波地拍打在岩石上，淑琪大聲地說﹕「我喜歡大海，因它不停地翻騰湧動，所以我就不用動，可以休息了！」

我們有些人也像淑琪一樣，常常無法從工作中停下來，覺得好像要得到許可才能休息，這是不是很耐人尋味？其實，美善的上帝早已許可我們可以休息！上帝用六天創造天地、光、陸地、植物、動物和人類，到第七天就歇息了（創世記1章31節-2章3節）。在十誡中，上帝列出可以榮耀祂的生活法則（出埃及記20章3-17節），其中包括安息日要休息的誡命（8-11節）。在新約中，我們看到耶穌治好城裡許多患病的人（馬可福音1章29-34節），然後在第二天清晨，祂就退到曠野地方去禱告（35節）。我們的上帝不僅工作，而且也適時地休息。

上帝要我們辛勤工作，但也要我們適時地休息，這是祂為這個世界所設定的生活節奏。正如農夫春天播種、夏天耕耘，秋天收穫，然後冬天休息。一天24小時，可分為早上、中午、下午、傍晚和夜晚。上帝為你我的生活安排了工作和休息，准許我們勞逸結合。

We sat atop some beach boulders, my friend Soozi and I, watching the foam send up sea spray in arched curls. Looking at the incoming waves crashing one after another against the rocks, Soozi announced, “I love the ocean. It keeps moving so I don’t have to!”

Isn’t it interesting how some of us feel we need “permission” to pause from our work to rest? Well, that’s just what our good God offers us! For six days, God spun the earth into existence, creating light, land, vegetation, animals, and humans. Then on the seventh day, He rested (Genesis 1:31–2:2). In the Ten Commandments, God listed His rules for healthy living to honor Him (Exodus 20:3–17), including the command to remember the Sabbath as a day of rest (vv. 8–11). In the New Testament, we see Jesus healing all the sick of the town (Mark 1:29–34) and then early the next morning retreating to a solitary place to pray (v. 35). Purposefully, our God both worked and rested.

The rhythm of God’s provision in work and His invitation to rest reverberates around us. Spring’s planting yields growth in summer, harvest in autumn, and rest in winter. Morning, noon, afternoon, evening, night. God orders our lives for both work and rest, offering us permission to do both.