Took a sick day yesterday. It was Sunday and I rested. Ever since I can remember Sunday has been a rest day. When I was growing up, all the stores were closed except for the drug store so my Dad would stop there on the way home from church and grab a paper. After he was finished, we were allowed to grab the comics and read them. I spent many an afternoon with silly putty copying Snoopy and Charlie Brown. Occasionally we would pile in the car and go for a Sunday drive. That usually ended in a stop at the local dairy for a sandwich or an ice cream cone.
When my husband went into the ministry, Sunday got a bit busier especially when he decided to pioneer a church. I was the piano player/worship leader and we rented a space just for Sunday so it involved moving equipment every Sunday morning. We had 4 children at the time, 3 in diapers, and one that hated to get dressed who was built like a cement truck. I had to sit on top of him to dress him. And in the time it took for me to slip on a dress and brush my hair, his sister might have decided that he needed a diaper change and I would find him either naked running for her or in a diaper that was half hanging off his body that on backwards. So we started the process all over again and by the time I got to church, I was exhausted and flustered. We remedied that when a teenager from the congregation volunteered to come every Sunday morning and feed the kids breakfast and get them dressed. I just relied on her to have them together when it was time to leave and things ran a whole lot smoother.
Hebrews speaks of Sabbath rest. Some take it literally in that you can't do anything on Sunday. Others think it's a time to do whatever they want. I mostly stick to keeping Sunday for church attendance to whatever services are offered at the church I attend, and to taking a nap somewhere in the day. Oftentimes, my husband and I will steal away to the marsh or the creek for a walk in the sunshine, weather permitting of course.
Hebrews 4:4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works
9 Consequently, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let’s make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience.
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession.
As I took a long look at Hebrews, I realized that the sabbath rest is not a day, it's a practice. And since Christ pronounced that "it is finished" on the cross, I can rest in that everything that God is ever going to do for me was completed at Calvary. Therefore, I do not need to strive or work for anything that I need from God. It's already been purchased and it belongs to me by virtue of my elder brother, Jesus Christ. I rely on Him to save me and keep me until the day I see him face to face. I only need to fight the fight of faith to receive it and see it come to fruition in my life. All the activity, unless directed by Him, is useless and exhausting.
What the author of Hebrews was saying was that spiritual, emotional and physical rest is ours through what Christ did for us. Everything that comes to us comes through the Christ of the cross. We cannot become more spiritual, that was accomplished by Jesus. We can only become more holy, more set apart to the Lord from the world. Many of our "spiritual" labor is in vain if we think that it is going to make more saved or more accepted by God. Our only labor is the fight of faith-to believe that victory is ours through the Blood of Jesus Christ and sin no longer has dominion over us.
So today I am thankful for sabbath rest, everyday! To rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ is truly a blessed and happy life. And especially on Sundays, I remember and reflect upon what Jesus has done so that I no longer have to strive in life, but just rest in thankfulness and praise for what He has done for me.
When my husband went into the ministry, Sunday got a bit busier especially when he decided to pioneer a church. I was the piano player/worship leader and we rented a space just for Sunday so it involved moving equipment every Sunday morning. We had 4 children at the time, 3 in diapers, and one that hated to get dressed who was built like a cement truck. I had to sit on top of him to dress him. And in the time it took for me to slip on a dress and brush my hair, his sister might have decided that he needed a diaper change and I would find him either naked running for her or in a diaper that was half hanging off his body that on backwards. So we started the process all over again and by the time I got to church, I was exhausted and flustered. We remedied that when a teenager from the congregation volunteered to come every Sunday morning and feed the kids breakfast and get them dressed. I just relied on her to have them together when it was time to leave and things ran a whole lot smoother.
Hebrews speaks of Sabbath rest. Some take it literally in that you can't do anything on Sunday. Others think it's a time to do whatever they want. I mostly stick to keeping Sunday for church attendance to whatever services are offered at the church I attend, and to taking a nap somewhere in the day. Oftentimes, my husband and I will steal away to the marsh or the creek for a walk in the sunshine, weather permitting of course.
Hebrews 4:4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works
9 Consequently, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let’s make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience.
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession.
As I took a long look at Hebrews, I realized that the sabbath rest is not a day, it's a practice. And since Christ pronounced that "it is finished" on the cross, I can rest in that everything that God is ever going to do for me was completed at Calvary. Therefore, I do not need to strive or work for anything that I need from God. It's already been purchased and it belongs to me by virtue of my elder brother, Jesus Christ. I rely on Him to save me and keep me until the day I see him face to face. I only need to fight the fight of faith to receive it and see it come to fruition in my life. All the activity, unless directed by Him, is useless and exhausting.
What the author of Hebrews was saying was that spiritual, emotional and physical rest is ours through what Christ did for us. Everything that comes to us comes through the Christ of the cross. We cannot become more spiritual, that was accomplished by Jesus. We can only become more holy, more set apart to the Lord from the world. Many of our "spiritual" labor is in vain if we think that it is going to make more saved or more accepted by God. Our only labor is the fight of faith-to believe that victory is ours through the Blood of Jesus Christ and sin no longer has dominion over us.
So today I am thankful for sabbath rest, everyday! To rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ is truly a blessed and happy life. And especially on Sundays, I remember and reflect upon what Jesus has done so that I no longer have to strive in life, but just rest in thankfulness and praise for what He has done for me.
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