Rest (Pt.2)

(Part 2 of 2)

“Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pout out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them.”-Ezekiel 2):12-13

The Sabbath was established to rejuvenate mankind both physically and spiritually, unfortunately the the benefits diminished as the people of God began to take advantage of it. Their focus was on ceasing from work-legalistically. The spiritual side of Sabbath was lost on them and they became disconnected from God. It became just another day to them. It was no longer holy! It was a day they used to accomplish their own personal desires, devoid of any real attempt to honor God. Jesus tried to address this with them in Mark 2:27:

“And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”

This passage is so powerful, because it communicates to us that the Sabbath is a specific, thoughtful gift of the Creator to serve His creation. God set apart a day of rest designed to help mankind recuperate physically, but also to rejuvenate spiritually. It is only truly a Sabbath day when we rest from our work in order to focus our attention on worshipping God. As we learned last week, the Sabbath is a day to honor God. Sabbath will always include the component of glorifying God; if it doesn’t then we have broken Sabbath.

This idea of Sabbath rest is not simply an Old Testament concept. In fact the writer of Hebrews declared:

“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.”-Hebrews 4:9-11

The writer of Hebrews encourages the people of God to embrace rest! We should not follow the example of disobedience demonstrated to us by the children of Israel, who, after wondering in the wilderness for forty years had abandoned the spiritual side of the Sabbath.

Jesus further validates the significance of rest when He instructs His followers with these words:

“Come to Me, all you 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.”-Matthew 11:28-30

Ultimately, our rest is rooted in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Just as you cannot rob yourself of sleep and feel rested; you cannot rob yourself of God and feel rested! If you want to experience true rest, you have to make sure that you are honoring God by honoring His Sabbath!

Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church