Take My Hand

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Sabbath is both A day and an Attitude

Sometimes I’ve had conversations with friends of mine that end up turning into a contest over who’s the most tired or busy

Man I’m so tired… I only got 5 hrs of sleep last night.... yeah I’m tired too! but try running on 3.5 hrs, 5 is lots compared to that

anyone else done this before????

or comparing your schedules when someone says that they’re horribly busy you whip out your calendar and list all the things you do that somehow make you busier than they are

I’m willing to bet that pretty much all of us have done this at some point, but why? why would we do this?

why are we so focused on our business? on how tired we are, and how little time we have to ourselves?

from the time we go to elementary school to when we graduate we are immersed in business. Play the most sports because being on a team is good for learning teamwork, it’s fun, and it’s good exercise. We may even throw in a music group because music is always good right?

When I was in Highschool I was involved in pretty much every extra curricular activity that I could physically be involved in. All the sports and all the music. I was at the school from 6:45 in the morning to around 5-8 in the evening depending on the sport or music group.

I was fully immersed in business. But what happened was I began to be trained to think that if I wasn’t this busy, I should be more busy. That I was being lazy, or unproductive. We’ve all been trained this way.

To think that if we are doing less that full time work every week then for some reason we aren’t doing enough. Or maybe it’s a necessity. There’s gotta be food on the table and the bills need to be paid and I don’t make enough money to take a break from it all so I gotta keep pushing

I’d like to suggest to you that the moment we decide that for whatever reason, we won’t stop… whether it’s because you feel bad about it or feel like you just can’t.... we’re letting our world run us. We haven’t taken stock of our surroundings to see what we are actually doing to ourselves and those around us.

Which brings us to what I want to talk about today.

Keeping the Sabbath.

What is the Sabbath???

The Lords day

a day of rest

no work

family time

etc…\

I think that the word sabbath has become something that is all but forgotten in our lives. It’s a word that meant something in the past that doesn’t seem to apply to us. And don’t think that I am excluding myself on this because even though I keep a “day off”, I still have trouble keeping a Sabbath. There’s a difference between those two things and I’ll explain what that is in a bit.

In the Bible, the word Sabbath is used in various different places and means something slightly different depending on the context of the time period in which the term is used.

In the OT, the sabbath began as a holy day for God, which included stopping all secular work.

Then during the Intertestamental period (a time of about 400 years between the end of the OT and the beginning of the NT) the sabbath became quite a bit more legalistic in it’s tone. This is when the Jewish teachers of the Law began to implement more detailed rules on how to observe the Sabbath, which Jesus in the New Testament challenged and was persecuted for it.

During the Intertestamental period (a time of about 400 years between the end of the OT and the beginning of the NT) the sabbath became quite a bit more legalistic in it’s tone. This is when the Jewish teachers of the Law began to implement more detailed rules on how to observe the Sabbath, which Jesus in the New Testament challenged and was persecuted for it.

Some of their rules about sabbath included:

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Intertestamental Period

walking farther than 1000 cubits

• drinking outside the camp

• drawing water into any vessel

• wearing perfume

• opening a sealed vessel

• assisting an animal to give birth or helping an animal out of a pit

• having sexual relations

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Intertestamental Period

plowing a field

• starting a fire

• riding an animal

• riding in a boat

• killing anything

• making war

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Intertestamental Period

• plowing a field

• starting a fire

• riding an animal

• riding in a boat

• killing anything

• making war

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Intertestamental Period

walking farther than 1000 cubits

• drinking outside the camp

• drawing water into any vessel

• wearing perfume

• opening a sealed vessel

• assisting an animal to give birth or helping an animal out of a pit

• having sexual relations

...........

ummm.... let’s not take a traditional stance on sabbath.

In the NT When Jesus came, he directly challenged this view of the sabbath.

Mark 2:23–28 ESV

One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

In this passage, Jesus seems to be breaking the rules of the Sabbath which would have been an outrage to the Pharisees because it was a holy day. A day that must be kept sacred. But because these rules of the Sabbath were established by men, by the Pharisees, Jesus knew it was fine because He wasn’t breaking any rule that God had established Himself.

When Sabbath was created, it was created on the basis of rest, the purpose being to bring restoration. Specifically restoration through God which is infinitely more effective than just a day off.

Most people, when they think of the establishment of the Sabbath, immediately jump to the creation account. On the seventh day God looked at his work and saw that it was good, so he rested. This is an example set by God for what Sabbath might look like for us. For God, It was a day, a day to Himself to rest in the glory of what he had created, to rest in the beauty of it.

Here’s the thing though, we have turned our sabbath into Just a day off, which is nothing different than what everyone else has.

For Christians, Sabbath means ultimate restoration in minimal time. If we keep the Sabbath in the way God intended for us to, we would be able to work and work and work and not grow weary because our rest day, our Sabbath, is with God.

The sabbath is both a time on our busy calendars but also a disposition of the heart. I’m guessing by now you are thinking to yourself that you are just too tired and overwhelmed a lot of the time so even sabbath seems like it’s just one more thing to add to your list of things to do.

Luke 4:16 ESV

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.

Mark 1:21 ESV

And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.

Mark 1:21

Luke 14:1–6 ESV

One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things.

Luke 14

Not only did Jesus teach, he healed on the sabbath. There are multiple occurances where Jesus “breaks” the law of the Sabbath to heal. One such example is...

Luke 14:1–6 ESV

The sabbath is both a time on our busy calendars but also a disposition of the heart. And I’m guessing by now you are thinking to yourself that you are just plain tired and overwhelmed a lot of the time. so much so, that even sabbath seems like it’s just one more thing to add to your list of things to do.

If there happens to be something that absolutely has to be done, then do it. Even if it is your sabbath day. Just don’t let that one thing lead to a list of things that are needing to be done but could wait. We should take an attitude of prioritization to our needed tasks on our sabbath day. Does it have to be done today? Or could it wait one more day and I just feel like it has to be done because it’s been on my list forever?

I’m going to assume that you are just plain tired and overwhelmed a lot of the time. so much so, that even sabbath seems like it’s just one more thing to add to your list of things to do.

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*Big stuff/little stuff jar illustration* Josh Play Video

But here’s the thing, and we’ve all heard this thousand times but never seem to implement it in our lives.... If we actually take the sabbath and rest in God, then we will be restored and everything else will fall into place.

Let me just let you in on a little secret....

The sabbath isn’t a day where we absolutely can’t do any chores or work. Jesus Himself did “work” on the Sabbath.

Sabbath to the Pharisees was very legalistic

Luke 4:16 ESV

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.

Mark 1:21 ESV

And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.

Not only did Jesus teach, he healed on the sabbath. There are multiple occurances where Jesus “breaks” the law of the Sabbath to heal. One such example is...

Luke 14:1–6 ESV

The one thing that should never be compromised on with your sabbath is your time with God. Even if you’re fixing a wifi router, dealing with a Cow that needs to be butchered or give birth, fixing a leaking roof or whatever else is the thing on your mind right now, you can be with God while you’re doing it. That’s the entire beauty of our relationship with Him!

We don’t need to set a perfect time to go to a coffee shop to actually spend time with God. Because he’s always with us and living in us, we can spend time and talk with God no matter where we are and what we are doing.

Now clarification, on your sabbath day there really should be a period of private, quiet, prayer time with God in stillness.

Matthew 6:6 ESV

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

On your sabbath day, take an hour, or two or more if you want to, to just be with God doing nothing else. Then go do your stuff but stay with God. Don’t leave Him in that room when you go do your thing. Your Sabbath day is meant to be spent with God. No matter what you are doing. Yes, make it a day off, yes, put your feet up and relax a little to your favorite Jazz tunes, but do it With God.

Some of my best prayer times have been while I’m lifeguarding, walking back and fourth on the pool deck watching people swim. I’m still very much focused on my Job but I’m conversing with God at the same time, and you know something? A job that could have the potential to be quite monotonous ends up feeling energizing. Whenever I come off deck after doing my Job in prayer, I’m refreshed, ready to face the rest of my shift head on.

Your sabbath, your rest, your rest in God, doesn’t have to end at the doorway of your room or your house. It can go with you wherever you are regardless of the task that you are doing.

Now remember that I say all this not because I want to give you an excuse to not dedicate Sabbath time away from your work but because I want you to recognize what Jesus knew something to be true that the Pharisees had lost somewhere along the line. The Sabbath isn’t some day of rules dedicated to God so that you can’t do anything but fast and pray. It’s a time of restoration in God’s presence that has been placed in a place of priority above other tasks that are not important.

So here’s the word Sabbath, now think of it not as a day that you’ve put aside from all the other days. Think of it as “rest” itself. And not just rest, but rest that only comes from God.

Take note, with this idea of the word sabbath in mind and what I just spoke about sabbath and work. Your Sabbath day should be dedicated to God. It shouldn’t be on a day of work. sure you can have sabbath on your day of work because sabbath is literally rest in God. But your Sabbath day, the thing in the ten commandments that we are commanded to keep, it has to be God’s day, regardless of other activities.

does that make sense?

I’m currently reading a book called the rest of God and in it there is this idea that in finding our rest in God, we will also find the rest of God, as in the rest of who He is to us and to those around us.

So here’s the word Sabbath, now think of it not as a day that you’ve put aside from all the other days. Think of it as the rest itself. And not just rest, but rest that only comes from God.

We all have experienced Sabbath.

What I mean by this is that we’ve all experience the peace and rest that God can give us if we seek it out but that is usually only in certain settings or in a time of desperate need for God’s help.

When we spend time with God, He’s got a big box for us to take all those things that are pressing us for time and space in our minds that add to our tiredness. He’s just waiting there with the box open for us to put our crap in it. to let Him help us with life.

We live in a crazy world, constantly vying for our attention. If you could just flip a switch, and have all the noise of to do lists and work projects disappear, would you?

Keeping your sabbath time, actually taking a sabbath, that is when we can take those things and put them in the box. For all intents and purposes flipping the switch and silencing the stress that they contribute to our lives.

Our sabbath time, done in the spirit of

Now I’ve said all this good stuff about Sabbath and keeping your Sabbath day and how it will be so good and you’ll be rested and restored ready to face the next week because you rested in God.

What I haven’t said, is that Satan.... he don’t like it when you take your sabbath day and actually manage to completely dedicate it to God. he doesn’t like it one bit.

If you’re honest with yourself, the enemy will fight you on your time with God, your Sabbath. And the reason he does that is it is more valuable to you than any other thing. More valuable than the conference you get to go to. More valuable than the latest Christian Podcast you’ve started listening to, more valuable than your gym day.

Your Sabbath is your greatest weapon and protection against the schemes of the enemy in your life.

He want’s you to think that you can’t fit any time in your schedule for Sabbath let alone a whole sabbath day. He wants you to feel mentally exhausted so you can’t fight temptation or anger or irritability. He wants you kept wrapped around his finger so he can dangle you this way and that.

God doesn’t want this for you but until we turn to him and actually dedicate serious time to him… we’re going to struggle with all manner of things that Satan throws at us because we can’t fight it.

Joyce Mayers said once that just like people get dressed in the morning physically, we need to do the same spiritually. But most people head out into the world spiritually naked. That time with God, your sabbath.... that’s what enables you to fight against anything the enemy will throw at you. It probably won’t be easy because he’s smart and knows just where to hit us. But… if we have had our Sabbath, and kept it dedicated to God. We will have something to throw back.

Now what you may be thinking is, I’m not built to throw back. But you need to hear me say this, every single one of us was made in God’s image and He is the heaviest hitter I can think of. Not only did God create in us the ability to hit back at the enemy, He also gave us the authority to hit back with the power of His spirit which is way more powerful than anything the enemy has up his sleeve.

Don’t let Satan win this battle. Mark it in your calendars. Sit down with your spouse and your family and talk about how you’re going to keep a Sabbath day.

Rest in God, in the midst of all the worries and threats and burdens that come with our daily walk, just rest in Him. Don’t let yourself get burned out because you decided that what the world has that is important in your life is more important than your Sabbath. Don’t pour the sand in the jar that is your life first, put the Big rocks in that are God and your family in first and foremost.

If you’re feeling weary and heavy laden… like the world is sitting on your shoulders but no matter how much stuff you take down from there the weight doesn’t seem to dissipate… This message is for you, take it to heart and take steps to do as God has commanded us. Just spend time with Him. Take your sabbath and make it sacred. Don’t let anything get in the way of that because it is a lifeline that God has given us and it is a very effective lifeline.

Now the preacher like thing to do would be to tell you exactly how you can implement Sabbath in your lives… But that’s not something that I can do for you. The most I can do is pray for you which I’m going to do in a minute. There is no secret to organizing our lives and making it easier to put the big rocks in first.

We just have to take a deep breath and make the change, and ask God to help us do it because it isn’t going to be easy.

But take heart in the fact that God never asks of us more than we can handle. He never asks anything of us that is easy either but it’s always a level of difficulty that we were designed to handle.

God is with you, He wants you to succeed, He’s there, listening to your cries and He’s there waiting to help....