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how can this ancient principle inform our relationship with work in a 24/7 global economy?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Exodus 20:8-11

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. In it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.

This passage is part of the Ten Commandments given by God to the Israelites through Moses at Mount Sinai. These commandments established foundational principles for their community life and their relationship with God, shortly after their liberation from slavery in Egypt.

What might it look like to intentionally build rhythms of rest into your life and work, even when external pressures encourage constant activity?

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Read alongside it

  • Genesis 2:2-3

    This describes God's own pattern of working for six days and resting on the seventh, establishing a divine precedent for rest.

  • Deuteronomy 5:12-15

    Another version of the Sabbath commandment, linking it to the Israelites' liberation from slavery and their need for freedom from labor.

  • Mark 2:27-28

    Jesus states, 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath,' suggesting its purpose is for human well-being.

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