Tag: Sabbath

The Lord of the Sabbath

Matt 12:1-21

Mark 3

Luke 6

Devotion by Cayce Fletcher (SC)

Every morning, I like to take a little bit of time after my bible study to read a few pages in a book. Currently, I am working my way through Jesus the King by Tim Keller (also called King’s Cross). This book is a compilation of Keller’s sermons on the gospel of Mark, and I’ve enjoyed it so far. Interestingly, my reading today lined up perfectly with today’s passages.

In each of the passages today, we read of Jesus doing the work of God on the Sabbath. The Pharisees were outraged, saying, ‘Who does this guy think he is?’ And, each time, Jesus responded, ‘I am Lord of the Sabbath.’

Before we can dive into what Jesus is teaching here, we have to ask: “What is the Sabbath?”

The Sabbath was instituted in the dawn of time when God rested from his work of the world and then reinforced with the Mosiac law. Why did God need to rest? 

Keller answers this question in his book: “What does that mean? Does God get tired? No, God doesn’t get tired. So how could he rest? A different reason to rest is to be so satisfied with your work, so utterly satisfied, that you can leave it alone. Only when you can say about your work, “I’m so happy with it, so satisfied – it is finished!” can you walk away. When God finished creating the world, he said, “It is good.” He rested.” (Jesus the King, p. 45)

God didn’t need to strive anymore after his creation was made. It was very good, and he could cease from striving. Sabbath in Old Testament times shows a dependence upon the provision of God. The Israelites had to trust that God would provide enough manna so that they could rest on the sabbath. They had to trust that God would provide abundantly with their crops when they let their land rest every 7 years. 

But, by Jesus’ time, the Sabbath had become so distorted that it turned from being a testament to God’s very good creation and provision to being a heavy load carried on the backs of his people. 

As Keller says, Sabbath means ‘deep peace, deep rest.’ When Jesus says he is Lord of the Sabbath, he is saying that “he is the source of the deep rest we need” (p.44). 

Hebrews 4:9-11 says, “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.”

Because of Jesus’ work on the cross, we can experience the same type of Sabbath rest. We can cease the striving, lay down our heavy burdens, and rest in what is already done. 

Cayce Fletcher writes and podcasts at amorebeautifullifecollective.com. Check out the blog and other resources to help you create a life you love and cultivate your heart for God. This free resource here will help you take your Bible study one step further with a Bible reading tracker, Bible study reflection page, and more.  

Reflection Questions

  1. What is the point of the Sabbath? Why did God institute the Sabbath?
  2. Do you think believers are still called to observe the Sabbath? What does that look like under the New Covenant? 
  3. What does it mean that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath? What does that say about Jesus? What does that say about the Sabbath?

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Days Off!

Leviticus 23-25

In the United States, there are many holidays to celebrate and enjoy. At the federal government level, they recognize eleven holidays per year: there are even more if you include religious ones like Easter. Not only that, but we have laws that force us to take time off work every week and periodically throughout the year. Although you are allowed to work all seven days in a week, most employers are expected to pay even more money in overtime and usually prefer for their employees to simply take their days off.

These times of rest and celebration are often taken for granted: all of us have grown up in this environment of expected time-off and have never had to live in a world where we are expected to work every single day without relief. Yet, that was the world that the Israelites were coming out of when they left Egypt: there were no Human Relations department or Workers’ Union to argue against Pharaoh for their paid time off. They were slaves, and slaves were expected to work every day in extreme conditions without any sympathy. Once Moses helped free them from this oppressive world, God granted the Israelites the amazing gift of days free from work and yearly celebrations.

In Leviticus 23, we learn about all the blessed time that the Israelites were expected to rest and enjoy their lives under YHWH’s rulership. On a weekly basis, they were expected to take the seventh day off from any work (sabbath): if you were used to slavery and working every single day, how would you respond to that? What a gift from an amazing, caring God! Although there are warnings about being “cut off” if they choose to work that day, we should not get lost in the punishments and miss what a wonderful opportunity this was for the Israelites!

Not only do they receive a day of rest every week, but there are seven annual festivals that they get to enjoy: the great festivals and feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Weeks, Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles were to be celebrated every single year. Some of those celebrations are seven straight days of celebration and feasting! Can you imagine the shock and appreciation that the Israelites must have had for this generous and loving God, having come from their background in Egypt?

What stands out to me from this chapter is that, through everything God is commanding the people to do, He still is a caring Father that wants His children to enjoy the gifts He has for them. Yes, He needs them to obey His instructions (for their own good), but there can be great joy in serving Him with the right mindset. If they can see His laws as blessings, rather than restrictions, they will rejoice at the wonderful gifts that YHWH has for them. He is a God of joy and blessing, and we would do well to remember that as well when we faithfully serve Him.

“… the joy of the LORD is your strength.” – Nehemiah 8:10 NASB1995

-Talon Paul

Reflection Questions

  1. What do you think God wanted His people to remember at each of the annual festivals and feasts He created? What was the point of each one? Which do you think would be your favorite and why?
  2. Do you take regular days off (weekly and annually)? What is good to do on days off, according to God? How can you do more of that?
  3. Do you see God as just a God of laws or a God of joy and blessings, too? What joy and blessings has He given you? How can you remember and celebrate these?
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Giving God the Best – Even our Rest

Old Testament: Leviticus 22 & 23

Poetry: Job 1

New Testament: Acts 15

Today we had several scriptures on our journey to read through the Bible in a year. The ones that resonated in my heart were from Leviticus 22 and 23. Chapter 22 talks a lot about sacrifices, being clean for them and what you are able to sacrifice. What comes to mind for me at first is that God wants our best. He lays out the things that need to be done in order to come before Him.

The scripture also tells us what can be sacrificed – and what can not be sacrificed. It says in 22:19 & 20 “you must present a male without defect from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order that it may be accepted on your behalf. Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.” This makes me think of when I buy fruit or veggies at the grocery store, I stand in front of the strawberries looking for the best container I can get, no mold, nice and red, not soft and squishy, the best. God wants our best, unfortunately, sometimes it is hard to give him our best. We work or go to school all day, do homework, laundry, cook dinner…and the list goes on and on. The beauty of this is that Jesus died for us, we don’t have to be perfect to come to God. We just need to be children of God, have a relationship with Him, love Him and then love others. We should try to give Him our best, but we will fail (at least I do) and that is okay. We just need to keep trying.  

Leviticus 23 talks about Festivals. The thing that stuck out to me was verse 3 “There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.” During each of the festivals mentioned rest is a big part of it. Making sure you take the sabbath day to rest. The rest He is speaking about is not a nap. Although I love naps, and I think they are a great thing to do, He is speaking about resting in Him. Spend time with God. I will be honest with you; this is something that I need to work on. First,I need to slow down and rest, but most importantly, I need to rest in Him. Taking some time to stop your day to give your brain a break is great but are you giving Him your time?

-Jeani Ransom

Reflection Questions

What can you do to bring your best to God?

What does sabbath rest mean to you?

How do you rest in God?

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The Man with the Withered Hand

Old Testament: Isaiah 27 & 28

Poetry: Psalm 72

*New Testament: Mark 3

My dad had polio.   Polio is an illness caused by a virus. It can sometimes lead to paralysis.  Polio reached pandemic levels throughout the world in the first half of the 20th century.

My dad was diagnosed as a teenager in the early 1940’s, and he spent weeks and weeks in St Anthony Hospital in Rockford, IL.  I don’t know much more about that challenging time in his life, because he did not talk about it to my brother and me.  It didn’t occur to us to ask him about it.  We were kids.  We simply knew our dad had had polio and he walked with a limp.  One of his legs had been severely affected by the disease. 

My dad was a carpenter, and he was usually dressed in a gray work shirt and jeans, or occasionally in dress pants and shirt.  But NEVER in shorts.

One day when I was a teenager, my dad injured his affected leg.  My mom needed to render first aid and dad’s pant leg was rolled up above his knee.  For the first time, I saw my dad’s leg that caused him to limp.  I was shocked!  It looked thin, wrinkled, shriveled.  How could the sight before me be a man’s leg?  My dad was strong, rugged, tough, a working man who did hard physical labor.  I turned away, sensing I had seen something I shouldn’t.  At that moment, I began to “see” my dad differently, I began to slowly understand, he had endured pain and sacrifice to provide for his family.  His shriveled leg was a testament to that. 

In the beginning verses of Mark 3, Jesus enters the synagogue and encounters a man with a withered hand.  The hand is useless.  One Commentary says the hand muscles were shrunken and the limb shorter than normal—the cause may have been infantile paralysis.  In any event, the man was unable to work for his living.

Jesus sees his need.  He has compassion for him.  He also sees the Pharisees watching, waiting for his next move.

In recent days, Jesus had healed a paralytic man, and dined with tax gatherers and sinners.  In both instances, the scribes of the Pharisees questioned Jesus’ words and actions. 

Now it is the Sabbath.  Jesus and his disciples had just passed through a grainfield and picked and eaten some heads of grain.  (Mark 2:23-28) The Pharisees had called him out on it, saying Jesus was doing work on the Sabbath, the day of rest.  By the time of Jesus’ ministry, the Mosaic law of Sabbath rest, (Exodus 20:9-11) had been “enhanced” by the religious leaders through the years to include countless petty regulations and rules.  Jesus had deflected the Pharisees in the grainfield encounter, citing David’s eating of the shewbread (I Samuel 21:1-6) and declaring, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.  Consequently, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Perhaps minutes to hours later, the Pharisees are now ready to pounce again with a new Sabbath challenge.  Jesus is prepared.  He asks the disabled man to step forward, so all the crowd can see him. (verse 3).  And then Jesus addresses the Pharisees.

“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?” (verse 4)

We can imagine the silence was deafening.  Because, indeed, the Pharisees did not respond.  And then we come to verse 5, filled with emotions, drama and action.

“After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.” 

Jesus looks deep into each Pharisee’s eyes, face, inner feelings.  He is angry at their lack of compassion, at their challenges to his God-given authority, at their unhearing, unseeing judgement.  The anger turns to grief as Jesus witnesses the hardness of their hearts to his ministry.  The Pharisees choose their “enhanced” laws over a poor man’s plight, choose their power OVER him, instead of a blessing FOR him. 

Then brilliantly, Jesus asks the disabled man to stretch out his hand.  The hand is cured without any labor, but simply by Jesus’ voice.  Jesus does not break the Sabbath labor laws, and neither does the man.  Surely the Pharisees will approve.  Their reaction is recorded in verse 6.

“The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might put Him to death.”

The Pharisees’ reputation with the people has been thwarted.  They will not accept this outcome.  Immediately their plans for Jesus’ destruction begin.

Only the man with the withered hand was rewarded.  Healed, restored, able to work and enjoy his life.  Forever blessed by the Savior.   

My father awaits that blessing too.  At Jesus’ return, he will rise up from the grave, his withered, diseased leg fully restored.  No more limping, no more pain.  Oh, what a day that will be.  I can’t wait to see him.  I can’t wait to see my coming King.

Paula Kirkpatrick 

Reflection Questions

  1.  Think about a person you know who will be healed when Jesus returns.  How does that motivate you to share the good news of salvation in Jesus?
  2.  Jewish law had “evolved” to extreme regulations about what was considered work on the Sabbath.  How do you feel about businesses that stay closed on Sunday, to honor the Lord? 
  3. Are we ever guilty of “following the rules” instead of having compassion for people in a difficult situation?  What example can you think of?
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Missing the Forest for the Trees

Old Testament: Esther Intro below

Poetry: Psalm 25

New Testament: John 5

We saw in John 4 yesterday how Jesus challenged and expanded the boundaries of who can experience the living water, and where worship can happen. Now in John 5, we see him challenging the existing notions of when God should be experienced.

We think of the temple as sacred space, meaning it was a special place where God’s presence lived in a special way. What the temple was to physical space, the Sabbath was to time. The Sabbath is sacred time, like the temple in day form. It was a special day of rest set aside to focus on God, which invited his presence. 

The Sabbath was important to the Jews, so they did their best to follow the laws in scripture concerning it. With all the right intentions, they developed traditional rules about what could be done on the Sabbath that were more strict than what was stated in scripture. This way, they wouldn’t even come close to breaking the laws. It was like driving 30 MPH in a 55 MPH zone so you don’t get pulled over for speeding.

There is a difference between following the letter of the law and following the spirit of the law. The letter of the law in a 55 MPH zone means if you go over 55 MPH, you might get pulled over and probably have to pay a fine. But what is the spirit of the speed limit? One goal is safety. If a lot of people are driving too fast, chances for fatal accidents increase (speed kills). If you are driving 30 in a 55, you are well within the letter of the law, but you are actually not following the spirit of the law, since you are not helping the safety situation. Other drivers will have to slam on their brakes to not hit you, or they will have to pass you and risk a collision with a car coming the other way. In being too preoccupied with the letter of the law, you have violated the spirit of the law.

By healing the man on the Sabbath, Jesus attracts some unwanted criticism. First, the man is criticized for carrying his mat away, as Jesus told him to do. This was apparently against some of the rules about how much weight could be carried or how far something could be carried on the Sabbath. Then the religious leaders criticize Jesus for doing a healing on the Sabbath, since healing qualifies as some form of work in the rule book. They probably just wanted to find any way possible to be critical. 

How does Jesus respond? From verse 17: “My Father is still working [on the Sabbath], and I also am working.” Doesn’t this challenge the traditional wisdom about the Sabbath? If God rested on the seventh day, we observe that pattern and do the same each week. But Jesus is claiming here that God works even on the Sabbath, and maybe even that he has never stopped working. Jesus is all about the business of his Father, so if the Father is working on the Sabbath, so will Jesus.

A large point of the law about the Sabbath is to carve out time to foster a connection with God. By focusing on the technicalities, the religious leaders were missing the point completely, for had their standards been followed, it would have resulted in less connection with God. The man wouldn’t have been healed, and wouldn’t have had the amazing experience that brought him to know Jesus and by proxy, the Father. By maximizing connection to God, Jesus had actually followed the spirit of the law, even though he may not have been within the letter of it.

I think what God wants us to know through this story is that he values compassion and mercy above legalism. I am reminded of what Jesus says in Matthew 9:13 (in reference to Hosea 6:6): “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Our God is a God of genuine love and kindness, and he wants us to mirror that, not just perform the outward ritual.

-Jay Laurent

Reflection Questions:

1. Can you think of a time when obsessing over the rules made you miss the big picture?

2. It’s a busy world. Do you carve out any time to connect with God?

3. If you do, what are some of your favorite ways of connecting?

Esther Introduction

The Book of Esther tells the story of how a Jewish orphan girl became the queen of Persia and saved the Jews from Haman’s plot to kill them all.  The feast of Purim, still celebrated today, celebrates that deliverance.  We don’t know who wrote the book of Esther, but it may have been her cousin, Mordecai (who also raised her after she became an orphan).

The book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that has no direct reference to God, and is only one of two (the other is Ruth) named after a woman.

One of the most well-known verses is Esther 4:13, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish.  And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this.”

Bonus trivia:  The longest verse in the Bible is Esther 8:9.

This book is a great example of the positive difference one person can make when acting courageously despite fear.  What difference can you make – with God’s help?

-Steve Mattison

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Enter His Rest

Hebrews 4

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Rest is such a basic need of every living thing. When it comes to people, we need to rest and sleep every day. If we neglect sleep for more than a handful of days, we will die the same as if we are starving or dehydrated. In the animal world, horses are used for their speed and stamina for racing these days and in the past they were used for travel. Despite their endurance, it is possible to run them so hard that they will die. Horses need rest the same as a human does. No living thing can survive without proper rest. So when you hear that God swore in his wrath that some will not enter into his rest, you should be very scared. This consequence is equivalent to a death sentence.

When God created the world, he labored over his work for six days straight and finally rested once his work was finished (Genesis 2:2,3). I think of how satisfying it is to have a good night’s sleep after completing a very hard workout at the gym the day before. The effect of experiencing rest after hard work is like a glass of water on a hot summer day. The converse is also true, if I spend all day laying on the couch and don’t get any work done, I feel terrible. Being that I’m not Jewish, I don’t have a good frame of reference for what the Sabbath is like, but it makes a lot of sense in concept to me. Working non-stop just isn’t healthy, but neither is resting without working. God’s rest is the right kind, the kind that is satisfying and comes after hard work. So the Sabbath was supposed to be God’s way of telling his people to work hard, but not too hard. Everything after that was just legalistic nonsense. We see this in Jesus’ teaching about the Sabbath. The rest of the Sabbath is supposed to be for the benefit of mankind, not for its detriment. It’s in this context that Jesus claims to be Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:27, 28).

Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, promises to give rest to all who come to him (Matthew 11:28). I believe that the rest that Jesus promises is like the rest in Hebrews 4, but it is different, a precursor to the ultimate rest that we will enter into in God’s presence. The rest that Jesus talks about is the rest that you can have in your soul today. Jesus is our high priest, the one who speaks on our behalf to the God most high. Jesus lived on earth and experienced the weariness that comes from hard work. He knows all of the struggles and burdens that we carry and he wants us to enter into God’s rest. Here in Hebrews we have so many promises that we should take heart. “We who have believed are entering that rest” (Hebrews 4:3). In our belief, we have a piece of that rest for today, and the totality of that rest tomorrow.

-Nathaniel Johnson

Questions for Reflection

  1. How is your work-rest balance? Do you more often have too much rest, or too much work?
  2. What do you think is the best thing about God’s rest available now? Do you feel like you are receiving it?
  3. Reading through the chapter, what are some reasons given for not receiving God’s rest?
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Add Love to the Sabbath

Matthew 12

January 12

Jesus is at it again. Back in Matthew 5 we discussed how Jesus didn’t abolish the Old Testament but he breathed new life into the old laws with his teachings. The most important thing wasn’t following the letter of the law but having the heart of Jesus – adding love. Here in Matthew 12 the Pharisees are upset that Jesus’ disciples picked some heads of grain to eat when they were hungry on the Sabbath. Picking some grains is a lot like harvesting and harvesting is work and work is not allowed on the Sabbath. The Pharisees loved nit-picking the law, making it really hard for anyone to succeed in following the law, thus finding fault in everyone else, which they thought made themselves look better. Their microscopic vision into the smallest detail of the law took the focus off of the big picture – how are you doing at being God’s people. The law had been given by God to create a healthy, righteous people devoted to God and kind to others. But this extreme fascination with catching everyone’s slightest mistake was not healthy, righteous, kind, or pleasing to God. Instead of the law being used to make a holy people for God, it was being used to divide and tear down and pull people further from their love for God. The law was good. Their use of it was not. It wasn’t time to throw away the law. It was time to add love.

The purpose of the Sabbath was to put time (a whole day) aside to stop busyness and focus on rest, worship and loving God. It was given as a gift by a gracious and loving God who knew what people would do if they didn’t take time to rest and refocus. He knew all healthy relationships take time and this was the perfect opportunity to add a date day with God on the calendar – every week. A mini-vacation with God and family every 7th day. It’s a great way to create a spiritually, mentally, physically healthy people for God. But the benefits dwindled when the Pharisees turned it into a legalistic checklist of don’t do this and don’t do that.

Jesus wisely gave the Old-Testament-loving Pharisees two examples from the Scriptures of cases where the Sabbath regulations were broken by Godly people doing Godly things, and God didn’t strike them down dead. In fact, He seemed to approve of the exceptions to the rule. Likewise, Jesus is confident God also approved of him healing, doing good and helping others on the Sabbath.

In calling himself the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus wasn’t saying he was the Lord of something that ought to be thrown out because it had outlived its usefulness. No. He recognized the worth of the Sabbath AND the good that could be done during a day devoted to God. It wasn’t about a checklist and Sabbath day spies making sure you aren’t breaking the law. It is about a day to focus on God, your relationship with Him and the good that He wants you to do for Him. It is a day devoted to loving God and loving others to help us refocus and build our spiritual muscles to take us through the next 6 days doing His will in love.

-Marcia Railton

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. Does your week generally include a Sabbath day of rest and devotion to God? If so, what does it usually look like? What do you appreciate most about it? Do you do it more for what you gain from it, or to please God? (either answer is legitimate). If you don’t normally include a Sabbath rest on your calendar, do you see value in trying a Sabbath rest? How might it look different from your typical day? What would be challenging about making this change? What benefits might you expect to see?
  2. Re-read Matthew 12:33-37. This week have you been producing good fruit or bad fruit? How so? What about your words? Why do you think your words are so important – at least one of the things you will be judged by? Do you find it easier to say the right thing or do the right thing? Were there any words you said recently that you wouldn’t want Jesus to repeat to you on judgment day? How can we stop careless words which will get us into trouble?
  3. Jesus welcomes us as a part of his family, if we do what? (Matthew 12:50) On a scale of 1-10 how are you doing in this area? What could you do today to boost your score? What benefits are there for those who are in Jesus’ family?
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Wandering in the Wilderness

Text placeholderChristmastime can bring so much joy to our lives. It’s during this short period at the end of the year that we reconnect with family and friends and enjoy time spent resting from work and school. I think it’s so fitting to end our year reflecting on the importance of who Jesus is in our lives. As seen in the carols that Jill discussed last week, we spend the month of December reflecting on and resting in the truth of who Jesus is before moving into the new year with high hopes and resolutions.

Though it’s not a Christmas carol, I love the song “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” partly because of Andy Wiliams’ voice and partly because I agree that Christmas is the most wonderful time because it is the “hap-, happiest time of the year.” However, some Christmases don’t always bring this cheer. Sometimes, in the midst of the crowds of happy faces and the busyness of the year, we can feel lost in the drift of the season. Feeling this way can make us feel lonely, upset, or isolated from those that we love, and crucially, it can also make us feel isolated from the voice of God. I like to call these times in our lives our ‘wilderness wanderings.’ It’s the moments when it seems like God isn’t near you, has ‘turned his face from you,’ and that feeling affects every part of your life. Though this can happen in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season when we’ve forgotten to focus on God, it can also happen throughout the year, in the low points and in the high points.

Too often, I think we choose to focus on the high points of our relationship with God or on the ‘do’s and don’ts’ of our faith. Though our relationship with God can bring us blessings after blessings and should be the foundation of our faith and though a life that reflects a heart that loves God is incredibly important both for our relationship with God and the credibility of our witness to others, I think focusing on these moments of wilderness wanderings is crucial to fostering a life that honors God. Because, it can be hard to get back to those high points if we are crippled in the wilderness by doubt and sin. 1 Peter 5:8-9a says that “Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him and be firm in the faith.” If we lose ourselves in the wilderness and allow Satan to steal our joy, we can be destroyed in that wilderness.

So, this week, we’ll be looking through scripture to see what the purpose of the wilderness is and how to make it through. Words translated as wilderness “occur nearly 300 times in our Bible.”** By looking through some of these occurrences, we will gain the tools to understand the purpose of our own wildernesses. We’ll look at the wilderness experiences of the Israelites, Elijah, David, and Jesus to learn from their examples. And, at the heart of this, we’ll focus on the importance of joy, both at this time of the year and every other time. Don’t despair if you are going through a time in the wilderness. Have hope. And most importantly, have joy, because “the joy of the Lord is your strength!” (Neh. 8:10b)

joy to the world

 

 

~ Cayce Fletcher

** View this link for more information on wilderness in the Bible: http://www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/wilderness/midbar-arabah-and-eremos-biblical-wilderness

Rest

Picture2

Hebrews 1-4

One of my favorite things to do on a dark stormy day is to curl up with a good book, relax, and ultimately take a nap.  It’s one of the best times for me to forget all the things to do that swirl around my mind and just rest. After that period of rest, I feel refreshed, renewed, and better able to work through what needs to be done.  Rest is not just something we enjoy but we are actually commanded to rest in both the Old and New Testament but since today’s reading is Hebrews 1-4 that is what we will stick with.

Hebrews 4:11 says, “Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.” We NEED to rest.  It doesn’t say rest if you have the time or only rest when you are tired but instead it says to be “diligent.”  I am diligent to eat dinner every night and I am diligent to read my Bible each day but am I diligent to rest every day?

We are reminded in 4:13 that nothing that we do is hidden from our creator.  We might be able to hide our lack of rest from our friends and family but we cannot hide the truth from God. One day we will enter God’s rest in God’s Kingdom but until then let us rest from the turmoil of each day and focus on the one who promises us peace.

If you haven’t tried it already for the remainder of the time that you are reading through the Bible, before you jump into reading take a few minutes to rest.  Turn off your phone, go to a quiet place, breathe deep, and be still.  When you feel as though your mind is no longer racing then spend time in prayer and begin your study.

-Lacey Dunn

Consequences for Evil Overflow

Ezekiel 20-21

ezek 20-17

Friday, March 24

In Ezekiel 20 God reviews Israel’s history.  Over and over God provided for His people, over and over He warned them to get rid of their idols, keep His commands and observe His Sabbaths.  Over and over Israel failed to obey God and experienced the consequences.  Over and over God was compassionate and loving and forgave His people and restored them to blessings.

Israel has repeated this history again.  They failed to get rid of idols, they failed to keep his commands and observe his Sabbaths, and now they were about to experience the consequences of their sins.  God would once again treat them with mercy, not as their sins deserved and restore them to their land.

Ezekiel juxtaposes God’s promise to be merciful and restore His people with the threat that His judgment is coming and that both the evil and the good will be cut off from the land and the city and the temple.  Yes, everyone will suffer the consequences of the evil behavior of some.

There is tension throughout Ezekiel.  The wicked will suffer for their sins and the righteous will not suffer, except that at first they will suffer for the sins of others.  Sometimes when God brings his judgment designed to bring people to repentance there is collateral damage.  Good people suffer when bad people sin.  It’s how it was then, it’s still how it is today.  God’s salvation is coming, earth will one day be restored and made whole and good, but in the meantime, good people will suffer alongside the wicked.  Christians are martyred in places like Pakistan and Syria.  Christians sometimes suffer persecution in the United States.  Trials may come to God’s people during times of judgment, but those who trust God and repent of their sins will be saved.

-Jeff Fletcher

(photo credit: http://w3ace.com/stardust/scripture/verse/Ezekiel_20:17)