|
8.05.2001 | CHRISTIAN
TERMINOLOGY- "Sabbath"
Intro...
Multitasking….
life is crazy...
hectic
schedules….
for
most of us, life isn’t slowing down for about another 30 years…
How do we combat the “busyness is next to godliness” mentality?
Is it OK to have a full schedule?
What’s the balance?
I’m not here to condemn a busy life, one full of the regular responsibilities.
I am here to combat the idea that we can go 24/7, 30 something days
a month, 365 a year without slowing down on a weekly basis. Rest/reflection
is good, needed and healthy.
It is my hope that whether you are a church-going, God-fearing Christian
or someone who’s just checking it all out you would recognize the
importance of slowing down your life and schedule once a week. God intended
rest to be an antidote for work. Historically considered noble, work
is now deemed drudgery and a necessary evil.
God instituted rest at the creation. Genesis 2:2
We also find a command to rest in Exodus 20:8... OT times,... you didn’t
observe the
Sabbath, it was a capital offense. Ex. 31:14
“Sabbath” means intermission or rest…also means seventh.
Wait, do the math, Sunday is the first day of the week, right?
The NT church immediately began worshipping on the first day of the
week after Christ’s resurrection. Sunday became the Sabbath as
a way to celebrate Christ’s rez. That’s another reason why
we call it “The Lord’s day.”
Here’s a good way to look at it:
"God ceased his work of creation on the seventh day. Sin entered
the world through the first two people and they seperated themselves
from the rest God had intended. Christ came to die for that sin. Christ
completed his work on Sunday. Our path to the rest that God has so richly
blessed us with is through the cross of Christ."
So, do we do nothing on the Sabbath?
Can we work around the house? Work on the car? Work on a tan? It was
work to set up this canopy...
Remember, Jesus came to fulfill the law. To teach us how to live within
the spirit of the law, not just the letter of the law.
Jesus himself, “worked” on the Sabbath...Luke 14:1-6
God will bless us for keeping the Sabbath. Isaiah 56:2 “Blessed
is the man who does this, the man who holds fast, who keeps the Sabbath
without desecrating it.”
God "richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment"
(1 Tim. 6:17).
So, when life gets to crazy...remember to take a chill pill at least
once a week.
Can you slow down enough to laugh at life and it’s craziness?
Can you play like a little kid?
Can you enjoy the richness of a good meal with family or friends?
Will you allow yourself to take in the arts, see things from a different
perspective?
Can you allow yourself to be quiet before God and learn new ways to
hear his voice?
Hebrews 4:9-10,
“There remains then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for
anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just
as God did from his.”
Head back to Sermon Archive.
|
