This morning our pastor was preaching on what makes the Sabbath day special. He was preaching from Luke 6:1-11.
He really got my attention because I don't really know a lot about the Sabbath. In fact, until today, all I could have told you about it is that it used to be on Saturday and that it involves not working. Seriously, that was all I knew.
While I was in college, my sweet roommate Kelli was really searching out for the truth and what the Bible actually teaches, not just a 45 minute, 3 points lecture on 2 lines of scripture. The first time she said that to me, it blew my mind. There are pastors that really preach more than just that? Anyway, she started attending a Messianic Jewish church in Montgomery to go and learn more. She was always so fascinated by what she had learned and was really eager to share it with me when she got home on Saturday nights. Sometimes I wish I had paid more attention. I vaguely remember her mentioning some things about the Sabbath and something about the Jewish week starting on Saturday, not Sunday or something to that effect.
This morning, when Brother Larry started preaching, my ears perked up just a little. I was very excited to see what the Bible has to say about the Sabbath.
The passage he was preaching from is where the disciples are walking through a grain field and they begin plucking some of the heads of grain and eating them and the Pharisees freaked out because they were doing something unlawful on the Sabbath day. Jesus explains to them that the revered King David and his men ate the consecrated bread from the Temple because their need was more important than the ceremonial regulations. Jesus knew that was how to get their attention, by mentioning things the man after God's own heart had done. Then Jesus tells them that the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath. As the passage continues, Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath and when the Pharisees attack, Jesus asks them if it is better to do good or evil, to destroy life or save it.
Brother Larry explained this morning that the Sabbath is about relationships, not rituals. It is about bringing more glory to God, even when you need to go out of your way to do it.
He also said that the Sabbath is about rest. Now, to me, rest means laying on the couch watching television. That isn't the kind of rest the Sabbath is about. God wants us to work, but even God took a day to rest. God took his day to rest not out of a sense of exhaustion, but out of a sense of accomplishment. He used it as a day to reflect on what he had done and how it was good. See Genesis 2 for this information.
There were several other things mentioned, including the fact that the Sabbath was on Saturday, but moved to Sunday due to the fact of Jesus rising on Sunday (the first day of the week). Anyway, Brother Larry said that the Sabbath is a day for reflection of what God has done in your life throughout the week. He didn't challenge us, but as he was speaking, I felt God challenging me, and in turn, I'm going to challenge you.
Each Sunday, take some time to reflect on the things that have happened to you that week, why it may have happened, and most importantly, how God received glory from your actions and situations that week. Post it on here as a comment to mine, post it on your own blog, write it in your journal, email it to a friend. Do this in whatever way is most functional and useful to you. I encourage you to share it with someone because seeing how God is working is ALWAYS an encouragement to yourself and to others.
No comments:
Post a Comment