Finding a Balance Between Work and Rest | MSI Week 3/4 – 718

Ecclesiastes 4:6 says that rest is a better option than labor, yet Galatians 6:9 tells us not to lose heart and grow weary–not to stop working. What’s happening here? We know the Word does not contradict itself, so there must be something important in both passages. When do we labor and when is labor unimportant? God commands us to labor with our hands. Labor is good, yet work for the sake of accolades or profit is a waste. Labor and sacrifice for the Gospel is both modeled and blessed by God.

Jesus modeled labor and rest beautifully for us. This week, we’ll come to understand how God’s priority of salvation directs both our labor and our rest.

Moms, if we’re honest, some of us struggle to find value in having a clean living space for our family. So.much.work. Some of us struggle to see the value in training our kids in the area of chores because it’s often harder to teach them how to clean a toilet (You know, with soap.) than to just clean the thing yourself. It’s more work to train a child to do a chore the right way, and follow through with their work, then it is to just do it yourself while they play happily in the other room, or sleep until noon. When we give in to that, we raise a generation of children who do not know the value or the deep satisfaction of working hard. But then again, we’re modeling balance (or at least we’re supposed to be). Listen in today as I touch on this month’s Bible Study at MomStrong International.


Mentioned in Podcast
Colossians 3:23
Mark 1
Mark 6
Ecclesiastes 5:12
1 Thessalonians 1:10

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About Heidi St. John

Heidi has been married to her husband Jay since 1989. Together they have seven children and three grandchildren! The St. Johns homeschooled their kids all the way through high school. Heidi is the the author of seven books, host of the popular podcast "Off the Bench," and the founder of MomStrong International, an online community of women learning God's Word and how to apply it to every day life. She and her husband Jay are also the founders of Firmly Planted Family and the Firmly Planted Homeschool Resource Center, located in Vancouver, Washington.