Sabbath Rest

Date: March 11, 2014

“Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:3

Beloved,

This past Sunday morning, my daughter prayed at breakfast, “Lord, help us honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” As I heard her pray, I was reminded of the privilege of the Sabbath and the kindness of God in giving us the Sabbath. God has ordered our lives to have a regular rhythm of rest and work. We are to model God in his work of creation in that he worked for six days and rested on the seventh day. Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).”

One of the reasons God gave the Sabbath to man was to remind us of the eternal rest offered in Jesus Christ. Hebrews 3:18-19, “And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” The Israelites were not allowed to enter God’s rest because of their unbelief. Unbelief keeps us from God’s rest, but the offer of rest still stands for those who will believe.

Beloved, our weekly Sabbath rest foreshadows our eternal rest. Hebrews 4:9-10, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” Do not forsake the Sabbath. It was given to help you long for the eternal Sabbath rest of the people God. It was given to remind us of the finished work of Jesus Christ who made an end to all our efforts to achieve our own salvation. Jesus has offered us rest through his finished work on the cross. Beloved, honor the Sabbath and rejoice that God has given you eternal rest in Him.