Book Review: The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan

I like to read. Like many people, I have more books than I have time to read, I wish I were a faster reader, and sometimes reading puts me to sleep. I've read a lot of good books, but it's always exciting to come across one of those books that is...well, amazing.

The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath is one of those amazing books, at least it was for the place I found myself while reading it.

I'm bad at resting. Dare I say that in America, we suck at resting. I've often found it odd that God created the earth in 6 "days" and then rested for a day. And why did the religious people in the Bible take the observation of the Sabbath so seriously? There's something to this sabbath idea that we're missing out on. When people gave Jesus a hard time for some of his actions on the Sabbath, I'm sure it's because they didn't know what God intended for the Sabbath. Because, for some reason, God intended us to take an occasional stoppage from the normal routine.

We hardly talk about it anymore. Our culture doesn't encourage taking time off as our days and weeks fill with all sorts of activities...and there's always something else we could be doing.

But are we missing out? Is it possible that God intended rest because it is what is best for us? Because it helps us better bring glory to him? Is it dangerous that something so important over the years has become largely non-existant?

Buchanan explores this idea in such a fresh way. This book has so many refreshing ideas and maybe even mandates that I had been missing. I cannot begin to recommend this book enough to anyone who senses unrest in their lives. For someone who has felt the stresses of life weighing them down (probably all of us) or who's first response to a friend's greeting has been: "I'm just really busy right now" this book is for you. Buchanan does not just tell everyone to take a nap on Sunday; he explores the idea of living with the sabbath mindset that God intends for his children.

Okay, time out...stop wasting time reading my blog (okay, maybe not a complete waste, especially if I get you to read this book) and take some time to read this book.

Slow down. Relax. Meditate on the words.

Allow yourself to be shaped by the important, yet often overlooked message of this book. Honestly, it might drastically affect the way you approach life...in a great way.