The Lord of the Sabbath

So I've been reading through the book of Leviticus the last few days. The next to the last chapter (Chapter 26) is really something powerful. It's almost like a movie trailer for the movie that is the Old Testament. He promises to bless them when they honored Him with their obedience and that He would punish them if they do not. And if they hardened their hearts in their rebellion, He would turn His face from them. He promised He would bring rain on their crops if they followed Him and He would withhold it if they did not. He promised that if they walked in their rebellion, He would bring famine, and if they continued He would bring captivity, and if they continued He would scatter them. Friends, that is EXACTLY what happened through the whole of the Old Testament.

Parenthetically, let me say how grateful I am that new covenant is not based on my obedience, but upon Jesus' complete obedience. He was fully obedient, to the very letter, to the will of the Father even unto death, and my life is now hidden with Christ, He IS my life, so when the Father looks at me, He sees the perfect obedience of my elder Brother, Jesus Christ. My blessing is not dependent on my obedience, but upon Christ's! To be sure we are to strive to be obedient, but now we obey not out of fear of judgment, but out of love for our Savior. We are compelled by love, constrained by His love for us. Our appreciation for the sacrifice of Jesus should govern our responses now under the covenant of grace. Praise be to Jesus who rights the wrongs of sinful man, and purchases for us our blessing from the Father when we should receive nothing but condemnation!

God instructs His people to obey His laws specifically regarding the Sabbath. God is very explicit in His instructions regarding the Sabbath day, it's one of the Ten Commandments to "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Literally, keeping it set apart to make sure that it is observed in every way. The Sabbath was a time to stop and remember who You are and who God is. God instructs the people that every 7 years they were not to plant, but to make it a Sabbath year. They weren't to plant anything!! They were to trust God to give them enough in the 6th year. All of their blessing and cursing of this passage was dependent on how they handled this!

So now comes the application: I wonder how good are you and I at a Sabbath rest. Resting is an indication of trust and striving is an indication of pride. When we rest take a Sabbath rest it reminds us that God's work is not contingent on us. Do we honestly think that the God who used a donkey to speak to His people, and who can call the rocks to cry out is really in need of us? How arrogant can we be than to think this way? We frantically run about "SERVING" God's kingdom as if it's advancement is entirely depending on us! This is not spirituality, it is sinful pride. We think so highly of ourselves that we take into our fallible, little hands the weight of the advancement of God's kingdom. I wonder what God was doing before we came along? I wonder what He will do when we are gone? Friends, the God that spoke it all into place has no need of our little minds, our little hands. We are exhausted because we think the work of God depends on us.

This is precisely why we as God's people need a Sabbath rest. When Jesus was walking through the grain fields with His disciples, He faced harsh criticism because His disciples had harvested some wheat to eat on the Sabbath, and Jesus showed reminded them that "Man wasn't made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man!" (Mark 2:24) The Sabbath was God's gift to us to remind us of who we are and who He is. Even in creation, we see God resting after everything was made. Do we honestly think God was tired? I think it is a bit more likely that God rested as a pattern to remind us that we should rest after our labor. It is so against our nature to stop our working, we are like Christian Workaholics. But we have to, on purpose, schedule times and seasons in our lives where we STOP! We stop to remember that WE are dependent on God, God is NOT dependent on us. We have to stop and remember that we are completely trusting in Him, He is not completely trusting in us.

A Sabbath gives us a chance to see ourselves much like the children of Israel. It is a time on purpose to cease from our labors to remember that He has delivered us from bondage! (Hallelujah) To remind us that He has led us through the wilderness seasons of our lives in a cloud by day and a fire by night! To reveal to us that He has provided for us on our journey in the most unique ways (manna from heaven and quail in the desert). To demonstrate to us that He is our shield from the enemy that attacks us (much like the children of Israel). To gently whisper to us that He is leading us to a land that He has promised for us, a land flowing with milk and honey where we will forever be at rest.

I'm curious as to what ways you build a time of Sabbath remembering into your life? I wonder what ways have you forced yourself to stop and remember who you were without Christ, to remember what He has done for you on your journey? I promise your labor will be much more fulfilling when you remind yourself of these things. I'd love to hear from you!