Sunday
December 5
1. GOD GIVES REST TO HIS BELOVED
a. Sleep takes up around one third of each 24-hour period. What should we understand about how and why we benefit from it, especially in youth? Psalm 4:8.
“Since the work of building up the body takes place during the hours of rest, it is essential, especially in youth, that sleep should be regular and abundant.”—My Life Today, p. 143.
“Nature will restore their vigor and strength in their sleeping hours, if her laws are not violated.”—Healthful Living, p. 69.
b. What examples do we have, in the life of Christ and the disciples, with respect to the need of rest? Mark 6:31; Luke 8:23.
“The disciples of Jesus needed to be educated as to how they should labor and how they should rest. Today there is need that God’s chosen workmen should listen to the command of Christ to go apart and rest awhile.”—My Life Today, p. 133.
“The Saviour was at last relieved from the pressure of the multitude, and, overcome with weariness and hunger, He lay down in the stern of the boat and soon fell asleep.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 334.
Monday
December 6
2. “EARLY TO BED AND EARLY TO RISE”
a. What is the best advice about going to sleep early in a world that stays up all night long? Psalms 104:23; 127:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:5, 7.
“[Physicians] should teach that by studying after nine o’clock, there is nothing gained but much lost.”—Manuscript Releases, vol. 8, p. 330.
“Make it habit not to sit up after nine o'clock. Every light should be extinguished. This turning night into day is a wretched, health-destroying habit, and this reading much by brain workers, up to the sleeping hours, is very injurious to health. It calls the blood to the brain and then there is restlessness and wakefulness, and the precious sleep, which should rest the body, does not come when desired. . . . Especially should brain workers begin to be soothed and not in any way excited as they draw nigh their hours for sleep.”—Ibid., vol. 9, p. 46.
“Sleep is worth far more before than after midnight. Two hours’ good sleep before twelve o’clock is worth more than four hours after twelve o’clock.”—Ibid., vol. 7, p. 224.
“In our schools the lights should be put out at half past nine.”—Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, p. 297.
b. What does Job say about those who try to change God’s plan? Job 17:12.
“Some youth are much opposed to order and discipline. They do not respect the rules of the home by rising at a regular hour. They lie in bed some hours after daylight, when everyone should be astir. They burn the midnight oil, depending upon artificial light to supply the place of the light that nature has provided at seasonable hours. . . .
“Our God is a God of order, and He desires that His children shall will to bring themselves into order and under His discipline. Would it not be better, therefore, to break up this habit of turning night into day, and the fresh hours of the morning into night? If the youth would form habits of regularity and order, they would improve in health, in spirits, in memory, and in disposition.”—Child Guidance, pp. 111, 112. [Italicized emphasis is in the original text.]
c. Exceptions do not abolish the rule. Quote examples. Luke 6:12; Matthew 14:25.
Tuesday
December 7
3. WORN OUT
a. What concern should we have for the health of our ministers, workers, and church officers? 2 Corinthians 1:6; 2 Timothy 2:10.
“It is a great mistake to keep a minister constantly at work in business lines, going from place to place and sitting up late at night in attendance at board meetings and committee meetings. This brings upon him weariness and discouragement.”—Gospel Workers, p. 271.
b. What usually disturbs sleep, and how can it be avoided? Ecclesiastes 10:17.
“If a third meal be eaten at all, it should be light, and several hours before going to bed.
“But with many, the poor, tired stomach may complain of weariness in vain. More food is forced upon it, which sets the digestive organs in motion, again to perform the same round of labor through the sleeping hours. The sleep of such is generally disturbed with unpleasant dreams, and in the morning they awake unrefreshed. There is a sense of languor and loss of appetite. A lack of energy is felt through the entire system. In a short time the digestive organs are worn out, for they have had no time to rest. These become miserable dyspeptics, and wonder what has made them so. The cause has brought the sure result.”—Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 174.
“If this practice [of eating late, right before going to sleep] is indulged in a great length of time, the health will become seriously impaired. The blood becomes impure, the complexion sallow, and eruptions will frequently appear. You will often hear complaints of frequent pains and soreness in the region of the stomach; and while performing labor, the stomach becomes so tired that they are obliged to desist from work, and rest. They seem to be at a loss to account for this state of things; for, setting this aside, they are apparently healthy. . . . After the stomach, which has been overtaxed, has performed its task, it is exhausted, which causes faintness. Here many are deceived, and think that it is the want of food that produces such feelings, and without giving the stomach time to rest, they take more food, which for the time removes the faintness.”—Healthful Living, p. 165.
c. Mention two examples showing how the servants of God acted to relieve weariness in others. Genesis 18:2–4; Exodus 17:11, 12.
Wednesday
December 8
4. TO REST IS NOT ONLY TO SLEEP
a. Under what condition can we enjoy the rest given by Christ? Matthew 11:28–30; John 14:27.
b. What is the yoke of Christ which gives us rest? Isaiah 48:17, 18; Jeremiah 6:16.
“The yoke that binds to service is the law of God. The great law of love revealed in Eden, proclaimed upon Sinai, and in the new covenant written in the heart, is that which binds the human worker to the will of God. If we were left to follow our own inclinations, to go just where our will would lead us, we should fall into Satan's ranks and become possessors of his attributes. Therefore God confines us to His will, which is high, and noble, and elevating. He desires that we shall patiently and wisely take up the duties of service. The yoke of service Christ Himself has borne in humanity. He said, ‘I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart’ (Psalm 40:8). ‘I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me’ (John 6:38). Love for God, zeal for His glory, and love for fallen humanity, brought Jesus to earth to suffer and to die. This was the controlling power of His life. This principle He bids us adopt.”—The Desire of Ages, pp. 329, 330.
c. Why did the Jews as a people fail to enter into God’s rest? How can we avoid repeating the default of ancient Israel? Hebrews 3:18, 19; 4:1–3, 10, 11.
“Accept the Holy Spirit for your spiritual illumination and under its guidance follow on to know the Lord. Go forth where the Lord directs, doing what He commands. Wait on the Lord, and He will renew your strength.”—Selected Messages, bk. 2, p. 230.
“Though time is short, and there is a great work to be done, the Lord is not pleased to have us so prolong our seasons of activity that there will not be time for periods of rest, for the study of the Bible, and for communion with God.”—My Life Today, p. 133.
Thursday
December 9
5. THE SEVEN-DAY CYCLE
a. What weekly blessing is for physical, spiritual, and mental rest? Exodus 20:9–11.
b. How is the Sabbath rest related to our redemption? Exodus 31:13; Mark 2:27, 28.
“To all who receive the Sabbath as a sign of Christ’s creative and redeeming power, it will be a delight. Seeing Christ in it, they delight themselves in Him. The Sabbath points them to the works of creation as an evidence of His mighty power in redemption. While it calls to mind the lost peace of Eden, it tells of peace restored through the Saviour.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 289.
c. What does it mean to rest on the Sabbath? Isaiah 58:13; Matthew 12:12; Acts 16:13.
“It is displeasing to God for Sabbathkeepers to sleep during much of the Sabbath. They dishonor their Creator in so doing, and, by their example, say that the six days are too precious for them to spend in resting. They must make money, although it be by robbing themselves of needed sleep, which they make up by sleeping away holy time. . . . Such make a wrong use of the sanctified day.”—Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 704.
d. What example do we have from the early disciples and from Ananias concerning faithful Sabbathkeeping, without which they would not have had a good report from the Jews? Luke 23:56; Acts 22:12; 2:47 (first part).
Friday
December 10
REVIEW AND THOUGHT QUESTIONS
a. In what sense is the concept of rest related to temperance?
b. Why is it better to go to sleep early?
c. What happens when we go to bed with food still in our stomach?
d. To what kind of rest is Christ referring in Matthew 11:28?
e. How do many fail to understand the true meaning of Sabbath rest?