Hard Work & Sabbath Rest
Lord's Day Exhortation
God has given His people an enormous blessing in setting apart one day a week for worship and rest. As we read in the 4th Commandment,
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work… For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Ex. 20:8–10a, 11).
Unfortunately, many Christians do not rightly receive or enjoy this weekly gift.
I am not simply speaking regarding how you conduct yourselves on the Lord’s Day – the sins you are prone to in the neglect of worship, simply going through the motions, or treating the day like any other with work or shopping. While it is good to consider your Sabbath practices and routines as a family, there are actually six other days that, if not used rightly, will hinder your Sabbath joy.
In order for the Sabbath to be true rest – you must be truly laboring during the rest of the week. You must be working hard in your vocations and in your households. You must not become slothful, lazy, or distracted – which not only prevents you from working diligently, but also tempts you to work on the Sabbath to keep up.
God calls you to work for six days in such a way that will make your bodies and souls long for rest in Him. This is all by His good design. As our Creator, God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh. And in His infinite wisdom, He calls you to imitate Him in this, trusting that by His grace, seven days of livelihood can come from only six days of work.
Therefore, the exhortation is simply this: work hard and then rest hard—all in the Lord your God.
This exhortation was given on November 9, AD 2025, at King’s Cross Church in Moscow, Idaho.