365 Reflections

Jeremiah 17:19–21 (ESV) Thus said the LORD to me: “Go and stand in the People’s Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20 and say: ‘Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the LORD: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. Sabbath rest is of supreme importance in the economy of God. Here Jeremiah calls on the leaders to practice the Sabbath "for the sake of (their) lives." It's very clear, Sabbath rest is a life and death issue. When leaders do not practice rest, the people are overburdened and the nation suffers.  But what else is this calling for in our lives?  The Sabbath is modeled by God in creation.  Genesis 2:2 (ESV) And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his...

It's amazing how much the Scriptures speak of rest . It is in the Garden of Eden, it's the goal of the deliverance of Israel and establishment in the Promised Land (see Joshua 14:15). It is there after Othniel's judgeship over Israel (Judges 3:11). It is also now here in 1 Kings 8 (the longest chapter in the book) after  Solomon's dedication prayer. 1 Kings 8:54–57 (ESV) Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the Lord , he arose from before the altar of the Lord , where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven. 55 And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 56 “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. 57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, This is the desire of God: rest for you with Him. I...

The Sabbath regulation is one of the key repeated themes in the book of Exodus. From the moment of their deliverance, God reveals the Sabbath in providing bread for 6 days and not the seventh in Exodus 16. Then the 4th Commandment pertains to keeping the day of rest as holy to the Lord. The command is repeated after the specifications are laid out for building the tabernacle to Moses on the mountain of God in Exodus 31. In Exodus 34, God speaks of the Sabbath shortly after the Golden Calf incident and the re-affirmation of His Covenant with Israel. Now again, here in the beginning of Exodus 35, the Sabbath is commanded! This time reinforced by Moses himself. Exodus 35:1–3 (ESV) Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do. 2 Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord . Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. ...

I love the theology of the Sabbath. It is the first thing God designates as holy in the Bible. It is made for man and yet restricts man from working to produce for himself trusting in the God who called him into the rest which points to the ultimate rest to come in Christ! The Sabbath is where man gets to remember he is made in God's image to reflect God's character and ways.  The Sabbath is where we remember we are most creaturely dependent upon another for all that we have and are. The Sabbath is where God's liberation and power are at work in Jesus.  The Old Testament and the New Testament hinge on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is where God's Word for us and our obedience to it come together. in the Sabbath we learn by experience how obedience is a blessing to our lives. When we obey the Sabbath we find the blessing of God's rest. You could say the Sabbath is the day in which we most learn doing what God wants us to do is actually what is good for us to do m...

Every seven days, Israel was to stop everything and remember who made it. Exodus 20:8–11 (ESV)   “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. In Genesis 2, the Sabbath is the first thing God calls Holy. Think of this commandment in light of God's own reference to creation. "The Sabbath is made for man" , Jesus says to those who stifle His healing of the man with the withered hand.  The Sabbath is a gift to reorient ourselves around God's sovereign power over all His creation. Christians get a reminder ev...

Psalm 132:8 (ESV) Arise, O Lord , and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. This Psalm is the climax of the ascent Psalms. The pilgrim has made it to the holy city and is nearing the temple meditating on the Temple, the Ark of God, His presence and the promises made to David who established this city as Mount Zion. Whenever we hear of God's rule, we hear of His rest. His rest is the first thing He does after Creation. We had rest in the Garden but we sought to rule ourselves and the world has been at unrest ever since. So God has been bringing a people back to His rest. He brings the people into the wilderness to find rest from their slavery. He brings them to the land for rest from their wanderings. He gives them rest from their enemies. His people are made to live under His rule of REST. We live in unrest. We keep thinking someone or something other than God will give us the quiet rest that only He provides. We are performing a fool's errand lea...

Psalm 121:1–4 (NLT) I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? 2 My help comes from the Lord , who made heaven and earth! 3 He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. 4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. Psalm 121 is a source of incredible comfort. The Psalmist going to Jerusalem to a worship celebration is reminded that their God is not some god of the hills or some god of the sun or moon. He's the God who made all of it and owns all of it and is over all of it. Yet He is the God who WATCHES out for you. Six times in 7 verses the words, "keep watch" appear as the consistent activity of God over His people. When you are devoted to God, remember He's devoted to you.  The protective care of God is something I have witnessed for much of my life. I was once driving too fast in hazardous conditions on the highway. My car hydroplaned with several cars around it, spun around and th...

It's good to rest. We were made to rest. God formed us in His image and on the 7th day God rested. It's important we do not neglect our day to sit back, enjoy our lives, and worship our God. Yet so many of us disregard this command at the whim of a hat. Psalm 92 is a song for the Sabbath. The Sabbath was that good they wrote a song about it. Here's what it says: Psalm 92:1–4 (ESV)   It is good to give thanks to the Lord , to sing praises to your name, O Most High; 2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, 3 to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. 4 For you, O Lord , have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. The Psalm opens with God's own words on His Sabbath: "it is good." When we Sabbath we are reminding ourselves that our work is made good because God's first work of Creation was good. We have all that we do because of all that He did! ...

Psalm 6 is a prayer from David to God that the Lord not be harsh in chastisement. David knew he deserved worse but asked God for mercy... Psalm 6:1–3 (ESV) O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD—how long? One of the worst attitudes of prayer we could have is to believe we are entitled to something from God. The name-it-claim-it-mentality we may have heard about just isn't the manner in which the Scriptures implore us to come to God. David comes humbly. He fully knows God would be right to punish him harshly for his actions. But he seeks the mercy of a loving Father. Whatever it is that David has done, it has robbed him of sleep and rest: Psalm 6:6–7 (ESV) I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eye wastes away because of grief...

Psalm 4 has a specific structure that centers the Psalm on verse 4: Psalm 4:4  (ESV)   Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.  The first verse is a cry of distress based on the goodness of God from the past. The second verse is a renunciation of all who come against him in godlessness. The third verse is a reminder of God's promise and protection. The fifth verse is another call for trust in God. The sixth verse denounces those who question God. The seventh verse is reminiscent of God's goodness in the past. The eight verse is confident assurance of God's peace. But in the middle, the fourth verse is what we do when we pray. We refuse to let our emotions get the best of us. We don't let our feelings control our actions. Be angry, sure that's a feeling, an emotion. Do not act on it. Remember who God is, ponder this in your heart and mind. Think about God and stop talking for a few moments. Let His presence...

Psalm 3 was written by David when he fled from his son Absalom who undermined David's authority and throne turning the hearts of the people after himself.  How hard it is to be turned on.  How especially hard when it's your own son. This had to be a dark dark time for David. He cries out to God about his enemies and the many who are coming against him. They are scary, they are vast, they are treacherous. But David doesn't let what other people say to him stop him from reminding himself who God is to him. Psalm 3:3–4 (ESV) But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. 4 I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah We need to learn who God is for us and then we need to learn how to remind ourselves who God is for us.  Then David says in verse 4 that God answered him. How? How did God chose to care for David from this dark time? One answer: Sleep. Notice the next verse. Psalm 3:5–6  (ESV)...

I read something powerful from Warren Weirsbe about the Sabbath being changed from Saturday to Sunday for those who follow Christ. The Sabbath referred to the work of God being completed in Creation.  God worked to create and rested AFTER the work was done.  The Jews were taught to obey the Sabbath as a testimony to their special covenant relationship with God.  It was Holy.  That means it was "separate."  Their 7th day to rest in a largely agricultural society was a sign that separated them from every other nation that served the "gods" of fertility and prosperity. Today in Christ, we celebrate the "Sabbath" on the first day of the week.  That is, we celebrate it BEFORE any work gets done for that week.  Why?  Because the WORK of our salvation has already been done!  It was accomplished on the cross and completed in the resurrection - which appropriately happened on the first day of the week!  You see, in the NEW CREATION of our hea...

Jesus has been doing some remarkable stuff so far in Matthew.  In chapter 12, He allows the disciples to eat grain and heals a man with a withered hand.  After these two incidents, the religious establishment set out to kill Him. Matthew 12:14 (ESV) But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. This verse strikes me funny.  Here are men fully devout to the law.  They have a list of rules on how to obey the real rules.  They maintain "obedience" to the highest standard.  And yet, when Jesus doesn't fit their agenda or threatens their authority... they are ready to "KILL" Him.   Isn't there a commandment that says, "Thou shalt not kill?"  Funny how they failed to see the log in their own eye. What bothered them most was the authority Jesus took over the Sabbath.  He entered, "their synagogue" and broke "their rules." Religion kills.  And by religion, I don't mean caring for orphan...