Do you honor the Sabbath?
PRAY: Humbly ask God to give you wisdom to understand this portion of the Bible and the faith to live out what He reveals to you.
READ: Mark 2:23-27
Do you honor the Sabbath? In modern society, we don’t give much thought to the Sabbath because, “Hey, we’re not under the law...right?” Well, yes. However, the idea of “Sabbath” was never intended to be oppressive; it was a gift from God. As our creator, God knows how we work and what we need to be fruitful. He designed us to function best when we take a day and rest from our business, work, and bustle.
As a part of trying to keep the Sabbath holy (the fourth commandment), the Jews had created a lengthy list of rules and regulations about what could and could not be done on the Sabbath. For example, you couldn’t walk more than 1,999 paces, and you couldn’t harvest crops. In this passage, the Pharisees are accusing Jesus’ disciples of breaking both of these rules since they were traveling and plucking grain due to having the munchies. These Pharisees have a view of the law and the Sabbath where people are to be bound by it as if it is a means unto itself, as opposed to the view Jesus puts forth in verse 27: The Sabbath was actually created to serve people.
We’re not good at resting though, are we? For some of us, the Sabbath may look like putting the laptop or phone down and cultivating a garden; for others, it may be reading a book. Parents of young children may find it best to designate a day where there are no planned outside-the-house activities. Turn the television off and enjoy family time together. The Sabbath doesn’t mean we have to sit around and do nothing, in fact, Jesus taught that we should do good works on the Sabbath (Matt. 12:12). The Sabbath leads us to be intentional in planning for both our personal rest and the rest of our families. We function best when you and I live as we were designed to.
Reflection Questions:
- Do you honor the Sabbath? Is the Sabbath a rhythm in your life or are you ruled by it in a legalistic way?
- What steps can you take to plan for Sabbath rest for yourself and/or your family?
- Do you find rest in the knowledge that Jesus saved us from striving to build our own righteousness?
Memorize: Mark 2:27
This week's devotional is written by Brian Seagraves. Brian is a City Church Owner and serves as a City Group Leader. He is a blogger and author, writes and teaches on apologetics, and is a software developer.