Labor Day officially became a holiday in 1894 when the Industrial Revolution was in full swing. Instead of farming the land with their families, workers had begun to put in grueling hours in cramped, noisy factories. Children often worked for minimal wages to help their families eke out a living.

The celebration of Labor Day honored these people who worked so hard to build a better life.

Now we celebrate Labor Day by going to the beach or hosting a cook out. But it’s also important to reflect on the biblical understanding of rest from labor—whether your work is at a desk on a factory floor or in your own home. Here are 4 Bible verses that talk about the importance of rest.

1. Exodus 34:21(GNTD)
   You have six days in which to do your work, but do not work on the seventh day, not even during plowing time or harvest.
2. Psalm 23:2 (GNTD)
   He lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water.
3. Matthew 11:28-30 (GNTD)
   “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light.”
4. Hebrews 4:9, 10(GNTD)
   As it is, however, there still remains for God's people a rest like God's resting on the seventh day. For those who receive that rest which God promised will rest from their own work, just as God rested from his.