Happy Labor Day weekend! I hope you have a great weekend celebrating the end of summer. The origins of Labor Day are rooted in the labor movement from the industrial revolution that has shaped so much of what it means to work in America. This day is set aside to recognize the value of our labor force to the prosperity of our nation and way of life. And how is it our society deemed it appropriate to celebrate the great labor force of America? With a day of rest. That’s a bit ironic, don’t you think? But I’m guessing that kind of thinking comes from our Christian roots where the Bible teaches us about the importance of labor and rest. Too much of either one is not a good thing, but both are needed in the right proportion to have a healthy life.

Rest from workplace labor should remind the Christian of another kind of laboring we need to take a rest from: The labor of self-righteousness. This labor to prove our worth to a holy God is an exhausting enterprise that we all need to find rest from. In our text this week we meet the Old Testament personality Jacob who would be the textbook definition of what it means to labor in the flesh. Jacob was a conniving and strong-willed man who was determined to make it on his own . . . until he knew he couldn’t. Jacob had a brother that had a very legitimate grip with him and was out for revenge. Jacob was as good as dead and he knew it. As Jacob wrestled with how to manage this situation to save his life, he had a mysterious visitor who engaged him in a physical wrestling match. That visitor was none other than God Himself and that wrestling match represents the intimate kind of struggling God invites us to have with Him as we learn what it means to forsake our own self efforts and completely rest in Him. Jacob’s life was spared and changed because of this encounter. He learned to rest from his manipulative labor, and rest in God’s faithful provision for him. Are you wrestling with an impossible situation today? Join me this Sunday as we see what it means to wrestle with God to find spiritual rest from our labor.