Keep The Sabbath

 Ex 20:8-10
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy… Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:..But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.

A lot has been written concerning the keeping of the Sabbath day. There are many who feel very strongly that the Sabbath should be kept to the letter of the law as described in the Old Testament, and others who feel it is no longer relevant to the dispensation of Grace. That Christ's death made the OT law obsolete.  I do find it relevant that the Ten Commandments include this law as part of God's standard of holy living. We know that Jesus says that, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” It was not to be a law that was a burden to keep. It was meant to provide a time of rest from the labors of life, a time set apart to focus our attention on worshiping God. A holy day to focus our time and energy on resting in the presence of Jesus. This law is different from the ceremonial laws given to us in the OT. The sacrifices required by God in the OT were fulfilled when Jesus died on the cross, once and for all. But, Jesus said to keep His commandment if you love Him. What laws were we to keep? The Ten Commandments were not done away with, but Jesus summarized them into two: “Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself.” To keep the Sabbath day is to rest in Jesus, and make Him Lord of our life.  The commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy is fulfilled in Christ, who is the Lord of the Sabbath. If He is the Lord of our life, we have perfect rest in Him. We set aside this 7th day to put aside the labors of life and the cares of life to rest in Christ. I don’t pretend to know in our current culture what labor is and not labor, and I will not judge people in regard to this, but I know that God is pleased when we take time to rest from the labors of the week and praise and worship Him, and to break bread with other believers. I believe that it is good to keep the Sabbath day special and use it to administer good works towards our neighbors and those who are needy. For those that need to work to provide income, I trust that God will open the doors and provide a way to meet your needs and let you take time to rest in Christ. He is the Lord of our Sabbath, and daily we can rest in Christ to meet our needs.

The Rest of God

Hebrew. 4:9,16 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God…Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

God is not blind to our needs. His word reveals the very motives of our heart and the desires to enter into His rest. Rest from the struggles of the flesh, rest from the condemnation and guilt of sin. We can come without fear into the presences of God, knowing that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father. He who has experience the struggle of life on earth and know our weakness, makes our petitions in our behalf to the Father. We can lay all our cares and burdens at the throne of God, and rest in His grace. Our works to please God must go beyond the works of righteousness. God is pleased with our good deeds, but it is not the works of the flesh that give us rest.  It is faith in His mercy and grace given to us through Christ that we can enter into His rest. Let us not stop short of this promise. Let us cast away our fears and trust of God who knows all things and desires to help us in time of need.

In The Desert

Mark 6:31 “ And He said unto them, “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while.”....

There is no rest for the wicked, but there is rest for the people of God. Real rest of soul, body, and mind is found in Jesus Christ. That is spiritual rest from the cares of life and the things that trouble us. But God is also concern that we don’t over tax our bodies to the point that we are no longer any earthly good. This is no reason to be irresponsible, but a reason to take time from the duties of life and allow the mind and body to heal from the demands that press on us from day to day. We all need a desert place, a place away from the call of duty. A place to renew our spirits and regain our strength to be the person God wants us to be. In the desert, we can get quiet before God and find real rest for the soul. In the desert, the distractions of life are put away and we can let our body and mind be relived of the stress of responsibility that weighs on us daily.  We are not called to live in the desert, but to rest there. Tomorrow we return to life’s duties, but today, we rest in God. 

A Desert Place

Mark 6:31,46 “And He said unto them, “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while.” ... And when He had sent them away, He departed onto a mountain to pray.”-

There are times in our lives that we just need to get away and find a quiet place to relax and reflect on God. We all need a desert place or a mountain to go to. A place where we can put aside all the cares of life and allow our minds to focus on things eternal, put our body on pause and allow God to rejuvenate us with new strength. We all get busy with things that are legitimate and pressing. We find it harder to take time everyday to get alone with God and spend time in His word and in prayer. God is calling us to lay it down and head to the desert to rest awhile. Our responsibilities our real and need to be done, but we are of no use if we are so tired and stressed out that we cannot do our job effectively. Jesus practice times of solitude and reflection, He often would pull Himself away from the crowd and the pressing things in life, and find a quiet place to pray and rest. In the desert place, God wants to meet with us, and fill us with new strength to face the days ahead of us with new life and determination. 

Peace and Rest

Col 1:20 “and having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself ...” The world is filled with unrest. Acts of terror are happening everyday in the world. There seems to be no end and having world peace is no where in sight. Peace on earth eludes us as nations and the end of war will not happen until Christ comes to rule. There is also a war that takes place within each one of us. We struggle with sin and the appetites that bond us. We would do good, but evil is ever present wanting us to fulfill the lust of the flesh. Self and it’s wants and desires war against what is right and holy. It is enmity against God and not subject to the law of God. Paul elegantly write about this condition in the book of Romans. Thank God, Christ came and gave His life that we might be able to have peace. The war within our heart to serve Satan and self can be eliminated. Peace can fill the heart and there can be a rest that passes all understanding. 

Sweet Rest

Psalm 4:8 “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for Thou Lord only, makest me dwell in safety.”- 

There are many things in life that disturb our peace. Sleep often avoids us in the night as we rest our head at the end of a long restless day. The cares of life and fear of what will happen “if” this or that takes place. Anxiety and concern about our children’s choices in life and their relationship with God sometimes weighs heavy on our hearts. Conflict and strained relationships with those we once called our friends find their way into our thinking and cause us to become discouraged. Resting in the arms of Christ is our only refuge from the despondency of our circumstance. Sleep can come when our trust is put in Him that He cares and understands wanting to give us peace in the mist of the storms. Sweet rest knowing that He is in control of our life.