Saturday, February 1, 2014
Getting To Understanding
For a while my wife and I have been having discussions about the ways of God. Scriptures seem to imply that knowing and walking in God’s ways are where the blessings are. Certainly we have all said we want to know God, know His ways, be with Him, and even sung many songs about these things. But looking at the objective evidence, it does not seem to me that we always experience those blessings. Not that we are way off base, but sometimes it just feels like something is not quite right. Did you ever have that feeling? Today, as I was thinking about this and contemplating our God, I saw something new that has always been in plain sight, or at least it was new to me.
Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
God went to great lengths to discuss the sabbath in these commandments. It was interesting to me the reasoning He gave for not working on the sabbath. It says God created everything in six days and on the seventh day He rested. Then it says He blessed it, which means to kneel down, and He hallowed it, which is to declare or make a pronouncement. This is where I saw something new for me today. If we go back to the story in Genesis, the words are the same. However, what about the days after that, like the eighth day, the ninth day, and so on? And there was no work until after the fall of man.
Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
What I saw today was that from the beginning God set up a pattern for us to follow. It was a weekly pattern. And that pattern teaches us of a day when we will rest with God. He will be with us physically to enjoy our time together. When we follow this patter we gain the understanding that one day we will be with God physically again. We are reminded of this every week. God is on our side and wants to bless those that follow His ways.
Exodus 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Today, as we celebrate the sabbath, let’s do so remembering God’s promise to one day again walk upon the earth with us!
Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You alone are worthy of all praise and honor. Thank You for Your sabbath. We long to be with You here on earth at all times. We call to You and ask You send Your healing, deliverance, and provision for us today. Do mighty works among us that all may know that You alone are God. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.