A Sabbath Rest

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Scripture:

Mark 2:27 Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath;
Mark 2:28 so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

Observation:

God planned a sabbath for all of humanity; not just for the Jews.  The sabbath is not to be a burden to humanity but instead is to be a day of genuine rest and restoration for the people of God. 

Application:

The Jewish leaders had gotten hung up in the details of the Sabbath.  They had made it complicated and about the restrictions that needed to be followed.  It was as if they were worshipping the sabbath and honoring the day for the sake of the day.  Jesus knew that they had it all wrong. 

Every human needs a sabbath.  This is not a day to be overwhelmed with a set of rules placed upon us by others but it is to be a day of genuine rest and restoration.  Unfortunately we don’t always do well at understanding Sabbath in this way and we push ourselves to do far too much.  And eventually we don’t even understand what it is that is supposed to be happening on that day.

The official “Sabbath day” was on Saturday.  Today most Christians worship on Sunday, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  While the actual day of the week may have shifted, are we still having a sabbath in our lives?  Are we slowing down long enough to allow God to be the one who recharges us? 

These past couple of months have been crazy ones in my own life and I am searching for that new rhythm that allows me to really enjoy a sabbath rest.  Yesterday a friend reminded me of this need in his life and that I needed to find that sweet spot in my own life.  My personal confession today is that it’s far too easy to get caught up in everything that we need to do that we don’t allow ourselves the time to soak in God’s presence that we need — not just on a daily basis — but on a sabbath basis as well.

I’m heading out to church this morning where I will not be preaching.  I’m glad.  I’m looking forward to worshiping the God of all creation and reflecting on him today as I celebrate a sabbath rest. 

Prayer:

Lord, may there be a rhythm of sabbath in my life.  Amen.





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