True Shabbos rest as if all work is done

בפסוק זכור את יום השבת כו' ש"י תעבוד ועשית כל מלאכתך.

On the verse, "Remember the day of Shabbos … [six days you shall labor] and do all your work" (Shemos 20:8-9).

The Aseres HaDibros command both to remember Shabbos and, on the six weekdays, to "do all your work" — a phrase the Sefas Emes examines.

ובמכילתא וכי אפשר לאדם לעשות כל מלאכתו בו' ימים אלא שבות כאילו כל מלאכתך עשוי'.

And in the Mechilta: "But is it possible for a person to complete all his work in six days? Rather, rest (shevos) as if all your work were done."

Since no one ever truly finishes all his work, the Mechilta teaches that on Shabbos one must rest with the mindset that everything is already complete, letting go of unfinished business.

ד"א שבות מהירהור מלאכה.

Another interpretation: rest from [even] the thought of work.

The Mechilta adds that Shabbos rest extends beyond physical labor to the very thoughts and worries about one's work.

וכה"א אם תשיב משבת רגלך כו'.

And so it says, "If you restrain your foot because of Shabbos … [from pursuing your affairs on My holy day]" (Yeshayahu 58:13).

The navi supports this: true Shabbos observance means holding back even from one's pursuits and concerns, not merely from labor itself.

והאמת כי ע"י שביתה זו אם הוא באמת אצל האדם כאילו כל מלאכתו עשוי'. יכולה היא שתרחם.

And the truth is that through this resting — if it is genuinely so for a person, as if all his work were done — "it (Shabbos) is able to have mercy."

When a person truly rests on Shabbos with complete trust that everything is accomplished, Shabbos itself, as Chazal say, "can have mercy" and bring about salvation.

וברגע א' נגמר כל מלאכתו.

And in a single moment all his work is completed.

Such authentic rest can cause everything to be brought to completion instantly, beyond the bounds of natural effort.

כמ"ש חז"ל אילו שמרו ישראל שבת א' כהילכתו מיד הם נגאלים.

As Chazal said, "Had Yisrael kept a single Shabbos properly, they would immediately be redeemed" (cf. Shabbos 118b; Yerushalmi Taanis).

Chazal teach that one perfectly observed Shabbos would suffice to bring the geulah at once.

אם היו שומרי שבת לשם ה' ולשכוח מכל הדברים. הי' מיד גאולה.

If they were to keep Shabbos for the sake of Hashem and to forget all [worldly] matters, there would immediately be geulah.

The condition for this is keeping Shabbos purely l'shem Shomayim and fully releasing every worldly concern — that total bittul would draw down redemption at once.

וכן הוא בפרט כל א' כפי השביתה:

And so it is for each individual in particular, according to his resting.

On the personal level too, each person draws down a measure of his own "redemption" and completion in proportion to how truly and wholeheartedly he rests on Shabbos.

Summary: Since no one ever finishes all his work, the mitzvah of Shabbos rest means letting go entirely — resting as if everything were already done, even ceasing from the thought and worry of work. When a person truly attains this state, keeping Shabbos purely for Hashem's sake and forgetting all worldly concerns, Shabbos itself "has mercy" and can complete everything in an instant — the same power by which a single properly kept Shabbos could bring the geulah, with each individual drawing down completion according to the depth of his own rest.