Everyone knows that exercise improves one’s health, but not everyone realises that the improvement actually takes place during rest afterwards. When you exercise, your muscles sustain tiny injuries; it’s during rest that they heal, grow thicker and become stronger. That’s why resting is every bit as important for your health as exercising itself. I once heard a doctor say that when your memory declines sharply, the most reliable way to restore it is simply to sleep an extra hour or two beyond your usual amount. In a way, then, the real key to health is sufficient rest—perhaps even more than exercise.

And it’s not only physical health. Mental health, and even spiritual health, are also gained through rest. You may well have experienced those moments when your thoughts are so muddled you can’t make a decision, leaving you physically weary as well. Yet after a good sleep, you wake refreshed, clear-minded, and able to see the way forward. I’ve often had the same when preparing a sermon: if I can’t organise my thoughts and don’t see how to develop the message, and even more time doesn’t seem likely to help, I simply pray and go to sleep. Strangely enough, the following morning I sometimes wake with the message made plain upon my heart.

Earlier this year, when I visited Korea, I went to Yeongjong Island. The roads there were straight and well laid out. They had reclaimed the land with soil, laid the roads first, and then built the buildings, which made everything orderly. Though there were still many empty plots, I thought to myself, “Even when more buildings go up, this city will remain neat and well organised.” I believe our lives too can be like that—if we put rest into the plan first. Normally, when we make our schedules, we set our activities first and then squeeze in rest where we can. But if we are to live healthily in the long run, it makes more sense to decide on our times of rest before anything else.

In the very first chapter of the Bible, Genesis 1, we read how God created the world. There it says that a day does not begin in the morning but in the evening—that it begins at night and ends in the morning. In ancient times, without electricity, evening marked the time to stop work. God was teaching us to rest before beginning anything. During that time of rest, we are to ask Him what He has planned for us, listen, and prepare to obey. Then, when the morning comes, we simply live it out. That is the right way to face life in this world.

So rest does not mean merely having endless leisure or playtime. It means slowing our activity, silencing the noise around us, and remaining before God long enough to listen to His voice. As we spend this August break, I cannot help but feel some concern that our leaders and members might grow spiritually slack. I hope that during the rest of the holiday, you will wholeheartedly draw near to God—whether in private devotion or in corporate worship—remaining in His presence. When we are strong spiritually, we can manage tangled thoughts and sensitive emotions, becoming steadier and more resilient. Then, when the break ends and we embark on new tasks, we shall feel recharged and ready for a confident and vigorous start.

Let us learn well, and practise well, the true way of resting in Jesus, who said, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.”