Devotional - April 22, 2026
Scripture: Genesis 2: 1-3 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Most people might think that the word I am keying on in this text is the word rest(ed). Nope. The word that gets my attention is done. When I say done, I am using it like it is used in the text, done, being another way of saying complete. How many times have we stopped doing something before it was done. We get tired of dealing with the problems we are encountering or we think we cannot go any further. Or, we simply get bored with it and we stop. I am not just talking about manual labor here, but also mental and spiritual labor. Yes, doing mental and spiritual work is labor intensive. I am always glad to hear when people say they read their Bible all the way through. It is difficult to do. It takes work, especially if you task yourself with doing it in a year or less. It is not like reading fiction. It convicts your heart, challenges you to dig deeper, and sometimes you need to look up the meaning of words. It is time best spent with God. To read it, just to say you did, is not going to yield much benefit for you. But at some point, or better said, many points along the way, you will be tempted to stop reading altogether before you are done. We also encounter this when we decide to work on spiritual issues in our life. Issues that affect our relationship with God. Some may think, why spend time working on my relationship with God when I am an adult? Especially, when I see other Christians acting worse than me. Apparently, God does not care. They seem to be doing alright. Folks, please do not judge your situation that way. The closer you move toward God, the closer the Almighty moves toward you (James 4:8). Don't miss this opportunity because you decided to spend more time streaming TV shows or surfing the net. I'd rather you were actually standing in a stream of water seeing the beauty of God's creation or surfing in the ocean and feeling the power therein. All of which are the product of God's work. So, before you call it a day and say you are done, do your best to acknowledge God and all your blessings. Finish what you start for the glory of God.
Pray with me.., Holy God, if we have grown tired of studying Your word or working on our relationship with You, revive our spirit. Enliven our soul, grant us the energy, the mindset, to rekindle our appreciation of You and the life You have given us, rather than seek distraction. Hear us as we pray for our loved ones. We ask Your blessing upon them. We ask Your blessing upon our church. Help us to be the people You call us to be in Jesus' name, Amen.
God's peace,
Pastor Brian
