I am currently underway in another year-long study through the Bible. I love it! The more I read, the more I fall in love with and begin to understand the heart of God (as much as my finite brain will allow). One thing I noticed in finishing up Leviticus, though, is the importance of rest. Every 7th Day is a Sabbath day, a day of rest. Every 7th year is a Sabbath for the land, so no plowing or planting would occur on that year to give the land rest. Every 50th year (after 7 sets of 7 years) is a Jubilee, a rest for the land, and a forgiveness of all debts. After seeing all of this, it occurred to me just how important rest is to God. I know I've written and talked about rest before, but it is so important that we don't get this wrong! The idea of rest is not merely sleep or relaxing, it's focusing on WHO our rest is, the source of it all. In the Old Testament and in Hebrew Culture, Sabbath was a time to remember God, and to focus on time with family and friends, to find comfort and rest in the Creator, and those He gave to us as comfort around us. Yesterday, on my day of rest, I overstimulated my brain, and it effected my sleep last evening. Rest, as I discovered, was not about the screens, the television, the games, or any other such things. The distractions I chose to pursue in the name of rest became a hinderance instead of a help. Consider, then, how we can truly rest in the Lord. What is it we can pursue, while not working? God through His word, loving Him and loving others, or simply sitting and being still instead of filling up the empty time with busyness. The Lord is our rest, and Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. Let us, then, seek the One who is our peace and our Hope while we rest, so that we can be close to Him always. Matthew 11:25-30 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Mark 2:23-28 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
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