GRACEWORKS: The Author: SOO-INN TAN



The extract below is taken from Graceworks as shown above. It is an interesting way of looking at God's rest comes first in a full day, and then His work in the second part of the day in co-labourship with Him. Would you like to begin your day with rest? See below the write-up by brother Soo-Inn Tan:

Commentary: Night and Day
Sometimes, something stares you in the face but you don't see it till someone points it out to you. It never occurred to me that the Hebrew structuring of a day was night/day rather than day/night. But there it is in the creation account. Genesis 1:31 reads: "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. (NIV)" The sixth day, like all the other days, starts with the evening and ends with the morning. Never saw it till I read Eugene H. Peterson's Working the Angles.



If we structure our days as day and night, we begin the day with our work, we toil throughout the day and when night comes, we take the rest we deserve. Along the way we ask God to help us in our work. But a night and day sequence means we begin the day by going to sleep. While we sleep God does His work. When we awake the day is half over and God invites us to join Him in what He has initiated. We are called to significant work but we remember that it is God's work and it is by His grace that we are allowed to co-labour with Him.

Some of us may be slackers but too many among us take our work, should I say take ourselves, too seriously. It seems we need to be reminded daily that the world rests on God's shoulders, not on ours. We need to be reminded daily that God is the main mover in life and He does it out of sheer grace. He doesn't really need our help, but as another expression of grace, He allows us to participate in His work.

There is much that is wrong in the world. We want to see our churches renewed. We want to see our governments govern with justice and compassion. We want to see a lost humanity come to follow the Saviour who died for them. We want to see the end to wars and violence. We want to see the environment healthy and thriving. The question we need to ask is this: Is God concerned for these things?

We know the answer. Christ came announcing the Kingdom of God. With His death and resurrection and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, God has begun His programme of establishing His reign on earth. One day Christ will return to finish the job. In the meantime He is working out His purposes in history. He goes ahead. He calls us to follow.