“So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”
God finished bringing things from nonbeing into being. He had filled the realm of possibility with beauty, showcasing His love in every expression we could possibly fathom. However, Our Lord says, “My Father worketh until now; and I work” (John 5:17). This shows that, while “Nothing under the sun is new” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) in terms of what exists, God’s loving care for you is always working. There is not a moment that passes that love is not active in your life. The world has been furnished with the adornments for your wedding feast, but the love of that espousal is ever new, ever effective, ever drawing you deeper into the depths of itself. God had expressed His love in a great variety of ways, and then the climax of the creation account arises with the seventh day of rest. All creation is ordered to this rest, which would become the day of worship in the Israelite liturgy, then become the day of Resurrection and celebration that is our Sunday. By this, the glorious Trinity gives you an example to follow: After wearing yourself down with works of love, showing your love in a plethora of ways and thereby bearing fruit for the divine vineyard; “Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of the orchard” (Song 4:13), you need to be loved to replenish your cup: “Come to me, all you that labor, and are burdened, and I will refresh you” (Matthew 11:28). O forgetfulness, ever keeping the Lord’s beautiful favors in the background that you may run to Him often and be constantly reminded of His merciful love in new ways. This being loved is what you were made for, and there is nothing as joyful and refreshing as prayer: “You shall draw waters with joy out of the saviour’s fountains” (Isaias 12:3). It is from an abundance of love gathered from prayer that directs the ensuing work: “If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink. He that believeth in me, as the scripture saith, ‘Out of his belly s hall flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37-38). The receiving of the love of God is not a pleasant break from work, but the work should be an activity that arises as a natural result of your overflowing love, that others may come to your abundant fountain of love and drink. If you are the light of the world, a fire at which others should warm their hands, how can this be unless you are first enflamed and constantly tended to by kindling? Life is meant to be a long act of love, for this is to pray without ceasing, and it is in holy rest that the Lord has the time to fill your cup once again: “The wisdom of a scribe cometh by his time of leisure” (Ecclesiasticus 38:24), and the love of a lover comes from the love they receive from Love Itself. Work is beautiful and necessary, but it is in the moments of restful prayer, in receiving love’s embrace from on high, that your soul can do that for which it is made.