Saturday, May 31, 2014

When We Rest

There was a time when I thought that resting on the Sabbath meant we were to just sleep in and take it easy. There is a certain amount of benefit and truth to that, but the Sabbath is more. Jesus addressed this in His ministry here on earth.

Mark 2:23 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.
24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?
25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?
26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?
27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

The Pharisees rebuked Jesus and His disciples for doing what they deemed unlawful on the Sabbath. Jesus responded by giving an example of David eating what would not have been lawful for him and his men to eat. What the Pharisees missed was the point of the law. It is true that we are not to work on the Sabbath. Harvesting crops would therefore be unlawful because that would be the customary work that a farmer would be doing. However, that is not what Jesus and the disciples were doing. They were taking enough corn to eat what they needed for that day. This was a matter of sustaining life. Our God is all about sustaining life. In fact, God never stops sustaining us, ever, whether it is the Sabbath or not. The law was and is always about life. That is why Jesus said He was also the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus is the Lord of life.

Today, as we rest on the Sabbath, we are to experience life. We are to reflect on the ministry of our Messiah. We are to spend time with our God, assuring that we keep ourselves in relationship with Him.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as our King. You are our ever watchful provider of all we need. Please forgive us when we get off track. Please help us to always be mindful of You and Your ways, especially on the Sabbath. Send us today Your precious mercy and truth. Please send us Your healing, deliverance, and over flowing provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.