Written by Rachel Olsen, a contemporary writer.
In 1882 U.S. cabinet maker Peter McGuire introduced his idea for a new holiday saying, “Let us have a festive day during which a parade through the streets of the city would permit public tribute to American Industry.” A dozen years later President Cleveland signed a bill into law designating the first Monday in September “Labor Day.” For many Americans today is a day off from work, a chance to cook-out and hang-out in the lingering warm weather of summer. A day off from labor, however, was not a new concept when McGuire suggested his holiday. The concept of a day of rest was first declared by the Lord in Genesis. In illustration, God rested the seventh day after creating the world and He deemed the day of rest holy. He didn’t call it Labor Day – He called it the Sabbath. Sabbath is a not a day of tribute to workers, it’s a day of tribute to their Maker. It’s a day to rest your body while renewing your mind by making the focus of the day your Maker and your relationship with Him. In the Jewish tradition, the Sabbath is the focal point of the week – not just a day of laundry or list-making to gear back up for the week ahead. The Jewish people spent three days preparing for Sabbath, and three days reflecting on what they had learned or encountered of God during the Sabbath. They were a Sabbath-focused people, and therefore a God-focused people… May this Labor Day mark the day that you and I decide to rest and become God-focused people.
And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. [Genesis 2:3]
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