Good morning people who honour God by honouring His sabbath rest
Most people, including many Christian leaders, do not rest as God directed us to. We live in an age where busyness seemingly equates to importance and even spirituality. I think this is wrong thinking and I believe it is more a chain around many people’s lives than a sign of fulfilment found in God’s purpose for us.
It’s time to re-establish Sabbath rest.
Exodus 16:23,30 Moses said to the children of Israel, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning’…So the people rested on the seventh day.
Let me make this abundantly clear: God, not man, instituted a day of rest which is a holy day to the Lord. Think about that. And note the language used here: This is what the Lord commanded. Sabbath rest is not a suggestion, it’s a commandment and I believe it is a spiritual principle, that when neglected, results in an imbalanced and unhealthy life. It’s not so much about whether we think we need it but about what God has instructed us to do.
Notice it says the day of rest is to be a holy Sabbath to the Lord. This is a really important point that is often overlooked. This day of rest, or day-off as we often refer to it, is not just to have time not working. The more important element of this day is for it to be a day of refreshing, including spiritually. God is to be the centre of our lives in everything we do, but the reality is we can so easily get caught up doing things, that we need to stop regularly and refocus and be refreshed. This is the purpose of the Sabbath day, the seventh day principle of God. When I have time off after ministry, I take time to refresh my spirit and soul, not just my body. I need to fill my tank, including time in the Word, reading an encouraging book, walking and talking with God; it’s a holy day to the Lord.
How is your honouring of the Sabbath day? Maybe today is a good day to stop and re-establish this essential command of God.