"He continued to pray just as he had always done." Daniel 6:10
“So,
God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good
news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. So God set another time for
entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much
later in the words already quoted: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t
harden your hearts.”
Hebrews 4:6-7 (NLT)
It’s important to remember that Sabbath Keeping is actually a command. It’s a 24 hour period of time when God’s people are told to stop. The word Sabbath and the word stop actually have the same root word. We are to stop working and rest.
Hebrews 4:6-7 (NLT)
It’s important to remember that Sabbath Keeping is actually a command. It’s a 24 hour period of time when God’s people are told to stop. The word Sabbath and the word stop actually have the same root word. We are to stop working and rest.
A
great way to begin is at 6:00 pm Saturday and end at 6:00 pm Sunday.
That’s how the Hebrew day works. It’s
convenient because it includes Sunday morning worship.
Start with Dinner, plan the evening with family or others, then go to
bed, knowing that when you awaken, you’re already in the rhythm of God’s
day.
Of
course Sabbath keeping can’t be done legalistically.
Jesus made that point when he said that Sabbath Keeping is for us, to be
a blessing to us. It is
a time that is meant to refresh us in the only way that human beings are truly
refreshed, that is with God. When
I recognize my finiteness, the reality that I’m not that important, that I
don’t need to “get something done” (no matter how heavy the demands feel),
then I am living in a reality far bigger than my little world.
When I take the time to connect to God’s world in way that I do not
connect at other times in the week, I am thus being filled with something
lasting, real and different to the temporal gratifications offered by pleasing a
boss, watching TV, shopping for stuff, feeding myself with the sugar rush of
“food” that doesn’t fulfill.
Take
a walk in the snow. Meditate on a
passage of scripture that feeds your soul.
Play a board game with your family.
Take a nap. Turn off the
electronics. Don’t do job
related stuff. Meet with
friends. Pray for your family
members by name and by need. Take
a drive . . . . there is such beauty in this area.
Put out bird seed and count the number of species of birds that you see
and then read Matthew 6:26, 27. Talk
to a neighbor. Plant a tree or
some flowers. If actual
Sabbath keeping is new to you and therefore really hard, just start small and
simply do something, anything that might just possibility connect you to God in
a new and refreshing way!
For more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
Download the entire devotional for free
http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/dailyoffice.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment