DAY SIXTEEN - Part Two

Scriptures~ Leviticus 23:3

“‘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.”

Luke 23:56 “Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.”

My Lesson~ Please take a moment to read/review yesterday’s post. Have you been able to identify any pencils? You can probably guess from the verses above, one of the pencils (AKA sins) I struggle to let go of is keeping one day a week a holy day for the Lord, a Sabbath rest. I guess about 2 years ago, I was really convicted about this. As our children grew up we spoke into this issue a bit by making a conscious effort not to go to the stores, attend or participate in organized sporting events… anything that would make others work and therefore unable to have their own Sabbath (a day of worship and rest). The problem with this is I could do all those things externally, yet not engage my heart -- therefore the sabbath rest wasn’t really about honoring God in ways that mattered, but rather about me and an excuse to be lazy. 

I easily make excuses and justify my actions of what I do on Sunday-- 

Sunday’s are one of the few day’s Glenn is around to … (have family and friends over, work on a house project, make a nice meal, etc.,) 

Just because it’s Sunday, my elderly father who has health needs still lives with us, it doesn’t change what needs to be done for him. So if I have to care for him anyway, why not…

Isn’t a good way to rest is to kick my feet up and get lost in the pages of a novel? After all, anything that can take me out of the here and now would be rest, right?

Going to church and dealing with people is not restful. I’m around people all week. I think I’ll just  watch church on TV so I can recharge…

This is where it gets tricky. Is anything above wrong to do? (visit with family and friends, care for those who need it, read a book, watch church on TV) See, it’s not actually all about my actions but my heart posture in them. Rather than asking what I can or can’t do, perhaps the questions should be, how is this action honoring and being obedient to His command of having a Sabbath rest? Sometimes that does mean intentionally sacrificing or fasting from something so I can use the time to fix my eyes upon Him. For example, I’m an avid reader. I spend my evenings reading novels while the guys watch TV. Therefore, on Sunday, I sometimes will intentionally choose to fast from fiction and instead read something that will help my spiritual growth. Or I set aside time to really listen to the lyrics of Hymns and worship chorus’ instead of just having it play in the background. The day is meant to be in Worship of Him and resting in Him; remembering who sustains me. It’s not by my own works, but God’s that I have all that I need. On the flip side, sometimes honoring the Sabbath means doing something I don’t want to. For me, an introvert, it means getting up and going to Church to Worship. Not because I want to, but because that is how I can honor Him.

When I’m too stubborn to let go of this pencil (honoring the Sabbath) and hoard the day to myself rather than be obedient to His command, it’s sin. There are weeks that I do really well with this and weeks that I fail miserably. What makes it hard is that, once again, it’s not about my external actions, but my heart’s posture. I could stay in bed all day and it not be a sabbath rest or I could be on a three mile run and praising God and resting in Him, sabbathing. 

Prayer~ Father, forgive me for being so stubborn, strong willed, and disobedient. I know your commandments are given for my good and when I choose to ignore them, it hurts You and me both. Help me to lay aside my pride in the belief that I know what’s best. You know exactly what I need and I will trust you to provide. Give me the strength I need to be obedient to this command and when I'm tempted to choose my own way rather than yours, convict my heart. Make me wholly Yours. In Christ's name, Amen.

Invitation~ Block out Saturday or Sunday on the calendar this week to honor the Sabbath. What does that mean I will give up? What does that mean I will do? How can I keep my eyes fixed on Him?