What is rest and how do we obtain it? † A complete sermon by Pope Shenouda III † 1988 The topic of rest is mentioned in the beginning of the Holy Bible, in the story of creation, where it is said (And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created) (Gen. 2:12). It is the rest of completing the work or finishing the work. Every person who completes his work feels rest.. And the Lord God rested on the seventh day from His work as a creator. And He rested on Sunday, the Day of Resurrection, to complete His work of salvation, and in saving people from sin and death. There is another rest that the world awaits, which is eternal rest. This is the one after which there will be no fatigue, sickness, or misery forever.. And all the reasons that called for fatigue will also disappear. And there is another rest that precedes it, which is the rest of man after death (read another article on this topic here on the website of St-Takla.org in the Questions and Articles section). Where man rests from the fatigue of this world. And rests from the turmoil and heaviness of the body. And from the evil atmosphere in the environment and society. And as the book says.. (That they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them) (Rev. 14:13) So when a person dies, we say that he has departed, that is, he has rested. There are other types of rest, during our life on earth. There are undoubtedly types of fatigue, and there are types of rest: there is rest for the body, rest for the mind, rest for the soul, rest for the heart and feelings. There is also rest for the conscience. There is psychological rest, and spiritual rest. We would like to talk about all of these in detail. Let us begin with rest for the body. God Himself wanted the body to rest. He is the one who created the body, and He knows that its nature needs rest. Therefore, He gave it the seventh day of the week to rest on. He does not do any work on it. And He said about the Sabbath rest (The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath) (Mark 2:27) And also the seasons and feasts of the Lord, He said about them (what work you do) (Lev. 23:3, 7). So we must give the body the rest it needs. Bodily rest is not a sin, but rather a divine commandment. So that a person acts rationally. He does not tire the body so that it becomes tired beyond its capacity. Nor does he rest it more than it needs so that it reaches laziness or lethargy. I remember that one of the professors of medicine in London said to me (I cannot prevent you from hard work, as the nature of your responsibility requires it. But I prevent you from overwork), meaning that the work that a person does after he reaches exhaustion must then stop and not continue. If he continues after exhaustion or fatigue, this is Overwork. The professor also said to me: The work that you do with joy and satisfaction does not hurt your heart. As for the work that you do while you are upset and bored, it is what tires your health. Working with pleasure does not tire. † † † Our Facebook page / copticmix Our Twitter page / coptic_mix Our Youtube Channel / copticmix