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Would it be Good to bring back a Sabbath Rest?
Would it be Good to bring back a Sabbath Rest?
The Sabbath was a holy day for Israel (Exodus 20:8; Hebrews 4:9,10) as a day of memorial to God’s rest from His six day work of creation. It was more than a day for God’s holy people to remember the holiness of God and their holiness before God. This day was a rest day. It was a one-day break from labor, striving, and toil.
Would it not be good to have a Sabbath right now? Take a two-minute rest or recap, and what would that do for you? Would ten minutes to stop what you are doing and read your Bible or reading about how to better your health be time well spent? If you had twenty-five minutes to listen to an inspiring podcast, would you be refreshed? For a brief fifteen minutes to sit and watch the traffic and listen to the birds, would that time be spent in guilt or recovery? Adding to your to-do-list or relieving stress?
Do you know the chances of sinning decreases with less talking, less movement, recovering, and resting? We often sin when we move. You do not fail when you are sitting, thinking about God, meditating on what is good (Romans 12:21), or listening rather than talking. How many times have you found yourself doing something that is not wrong, but it is not the best use of your time, especially often on a device of some kind. Whether it is news, or social media, or a little game, or whatever. You realize, “I’m doing this because I don’t want to do the next thing on my list, and I know I probably should. I’m just sort of “escaping”. It’s not satisfying. It doesn’t restore. It doesn’t refresh. It’s not really rest. I’m just “escaping”. What joy would we receive if we would biblical rest? For one thing, resting is one of the best ways to overcome temptation.
Why would we rest poorly or not rest at all? It is because we feel guilt when we do. We feel bad when we are not busy. We are ashamed when we are not “doing more”. All this gives us a false idea about resting. We feel like repenting when we are not on our feet. That is a thought. If we would rest in repentance, God would wipe away our guilt and renew us with strength to do His will right.
Keep in mind, our Lord Jesus Christ practiced it. View rest as a kingdom business for His disciples. As the Lord must be present in your work, so He must be present in your rest. Jesus even offers His rest to us many times, and we fail to accept it (Matthew 11:28-30). Your goal, my goal today, is rest with Jesus, now and forever. If we do not get past the idea rest is needful and hold to our “gift to be busy”, then heaven’s rest would only increase our guilt and shame, and none of that exists in heaven.
Consider this one question. What is one step toward a kingdom-centered rest with a “Christ-purposed” rest, you could take today?
