Rest
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Matthew 11:28
Is Rest really a life or death issue? Maybe, a recent German study indicates that falling asleep at the wheel is the leading cause of German roadway fatalities, amounting to nearly 25% of the total.
According to the 1990 National Commission for sleep disorders Research report, Americans, on average, get 20% less sleep than their counterparts did a century ago. (Guilt-Free Gourmet pg 319)
Dr. James Pearl , a sleep expert, says that sleep needs vary with out genetics. About 20% of the population genetically need less than 6 hours of sleep per night, 10% of us need more than 9 hours, however most people operate best on 7 or 8 hours of sleep.
Losing even 3 hours of sleep on a given night can cut in half the effectiveness of your immune system. Those who handle stress better appear to require less sleep--Exercise will help this (Eccl. 5:12 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet). Fresh air will helps you sleep better also. The most healthful position to sleep is on the right side, because it avoids pressure on the heart. Rest should come before extreme fatigue, for the body requires 2-10 times to fully recuperate after thorough fatigue as from the beginning of fatigue. ( Proof Positive pg 502 and Divine Prescription pg 109)
Research suggests it is in the hours of deep sleep, primarily in the hours before midnight, that information learned during the day is transferred from the short-term memory part of the brain to the permanent storage of the neocortex. You might think about how many hours of sleep you got before midnight next time you can't remember something. ( Guilt-free Gourmet pg. 319) Psalm 127:2 "It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep."
Just as the boy has a natural daily clock (circadian rhythm) it also has a weekly clock (circaseptan rhythm). Circaseptan rhythms are just hat: body rhythms that run about 7 days in length. Medically, some that have been identified include, heart rate, swelling after surgery, (more on the 7th and 14th day)and rejection of transplanted organs. Our bodies need a weekly rest.
It is interesting to note that although cultures have experimented with different weekly cycles-All Dr. Baldwin was aware of reverted back to the 7 day program.
In France during the French Revolution they experimented with a 10-day(metric) week. It had disastrous results. Their mental institutions filled rather quickly to capacity and then some.
Interestingly, we are not only designed to need one day in every seven for rest, but for optimal results it must be the same day each week. But then the Bible told us this long before medical science. It says "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath..." Exodus 20:8
Jesus followed this up in the New Testament by saying, "The Sabbath was made for man and not man fo the Sabbath." Mark 2:27