Sabbath rest

A Month of Sundays

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment 
 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. Genesis 2:3 ESV

Keeping up with our grandmother’s brisk pace was indeed a daunting task and “At this rate we won’t get there in a month of Sundays” was something that she loved to say, whenever was one of us was dawdling along, behind. Yet keeping up with Grandmother, was nothing in comparison with keeping up with the Almighty. Imagine for a moment, the speed of the six days of creation. They were like God going out for a walk around the universe at a break-neck rate. God created, light and darkness, planets and constellations, oceans, and continents, and that was just the first two days!

As God continued, projects, seemed to fly off His workbench, each one greater than the one before. Then on day six, God paused, stooped down to scoop up some clay, and He formed man with His own hands and in His own image. Finally, God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life, and He named Him Adam. But as God watched Adam, for the first time God noticed something that was not good. Adam was alone. So, God caused Adam to sleep, and it was while he was resting, that God took a rib to create Eve as his companion. Then on the seventh day, God Himself rested. After six fast and furious days, I believe that God slowed His pace, so that His children could catch up to Him. Walking at a speed that would take a month of Sundays to go around the garden of Eden was not a problem for God. In fact, God loved that seventh day so much that the Bible tells us that He gave it a special blessing and called it Holy! If it delighted God to slow His pace to walk with us, why are we always in such a hurry? Maybe a month of Sundays in our life might be just what pleases Him most!

A Sabbath Day’s Flight

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

I have always been delighted to watch birds in flight. The effortless way they spread their wings reminds me of the way God intends for us to rest in His grace. Just as birds are made for flight (Minus the Ostrich and his cousins) God intends for us to rise up by faith into the air and show off the inner beauty of Christ who lies hidden as long as we walk on the ground with our faith wings folded. And what speaks more clearly of grace than God’s Holy Sabbath? The Sabbath is a weekly reminder that on the morning when Adam and Eve rose from their first night’s sleep, God gave to them a day, and He blessed it, and called it Holy!

So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. - Genesis 2:3 ESV  
And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Mark 2:27 ESV

For whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
Hebrews 4:10 ESV

Keeping Sabbath is a Step of Faith

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. Matthew 8:24-26

In today’s scripture Jesus accomplished more when he was resting than the disciples did while they were desperately rowing and bailing water. Jesus wasn’t being lazy when He was sleeping. He simply knew that the Father would help Him to do all He need to do at just the right time, but only if He rested! As we rest, it teaches us to depend more fully on Jesus. Just like the stillness that Jesus brought to the sea by His word, as we rest, our racing thoughts calm to a hush and in that quietness we can begin to hear God’s still small voice. Keeping Sabbath is a step of faith with our time, in the same way that giving our tithe is a step of faith with our finances.  With our tithe we give the first and best of our financial resources, trusting that God will multiply the rest to meet our needs. We need to remind ourselves that keeping a Sabbath is not just observing some law, but a spiritual recognition that the first and best of part our time is better in God’s hands, than a whole week in ours. As believers in Jesus Christ we don’t “have to” legalistically rest on Sunday. Instead, we discover that we have the privilege at least once a week to find our rest in Him. One day we will finish with all of the work of our life. On that day we will enter into the greatest Sabbath of all as we find our wonderful and complete rest in the presence of Jesus forever and all our work will remain behind!