Do you suffer from the lack of a Sabbath?
Observing the Sabbath must have been so easy at first but as time went by the list of rules kept growing longer and longer. Each new rule was probably easy to justify and well accepted in the beginning but as the list kept growing it became too difficult to know what they were allowed to do.
Knowing how to please God is such an awesome goal but when you try to make a rule to apply to every single situation that you can think of then it gradually becomes less clear and too difficult to know what you are allowed to do.
It was obvious that you couldn't go to your field and harvest your crops but what should you do it your basket full of produce topples over onto the kitchen floor? Were you allowed to pick it up and clean up the mess or did you have to leave your food on the kitchen floor until the next day?
I can't be sure what the religious leaders in the Old Testament would say about the mess on the floor but I think that God is pleased when we remember and celebrate these two things:
My Stuff Didn't Come From Me
Leviticus 23:3 "You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the LORD's Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever you live.The nation of Israel was instructed to work six days and then rest from their worldly worries and difficulties and focus on the source of everything that they have. Instead of continuing to push on to be more successful they were told that God's blessing would be more abundant if they trusted in him enough to quit pushing to get ahead.
This scripture in Leviticus is a reminder to the Israelites that when they setup household in the Promised Land they need to keep the Sabbath for their benefit as well as the benefit of their household servants and their livestock.
Time spent with God should be more valuable to us than another day of work trying to provide for our needs. Blessings are sure to come our direction when we honor God by acknowledging that he alone is the source of our prosperity and happiness. Whatever I am allowed to produce in six days is all that I need to have.
My Salvation Didn't Come From Me
Matthew 11:28-30 Then Jesus said, "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."
Not only is God the source of my prosperity and happiness but he is also the source of my eternal salvation. The most important need that I have is the last thing that I could ever provide for by my own effort. Instead of being burdened down with a huge list of rules that nobody could keep, Jesus tells us about a better way that is truly the only way.
You might expect Jesus to tell the people to throw off their yoke and be free of any yokes but instead he tells them to put on a yoke that is far better than the old one. People that have never worn this yoke think that it must be a burden but those of us that are wearing it know that it is very liberating.
The old yoke of the law was all about your own effort at following the rules but the new yoke that Jesus offers is a shared burden. As we walk with him, at his speed and in the same direction, we won't hardly notice the new yoke that he offers.
Because of the huge list of rules God's children suffered from the Sabbath in the Old Testament but in our day we tend to suffer from lack of a Sabbath. Our society is seldom content with what they have and it keeps working to get more.
Physical rest is good but soul rest is our greatest need, without a peaceful relationship with my creator I will never have rest for my soul, I will never feel like I am good enough or that I will be okay when this life is over. I celebrate the Lord's day because his work on the cross is the only way to enter into his rest.
Have you found the satisfaction and contentment that you long for? You will only find peace with God by trusting in Jesus work instead of your own.
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A Yoke For Rest (faithgateway.com)
