Making Rest - Soul Keeping

There is a story of an American devotional writer who traveled to Africa. She hired a group of guides and people to carry their stuff and on her journey. They were tribesman from tribes within the jungles. They covered many miles the first day, but the second day all of her hired guides and carriers remained seated and refused to continue the journey. She was quite frustrated, and asked the leader of the hired hands what was going on. HIs response was that the first day they traveled too far and too fast - and now they were waiting for their souls to catch up with their bodies.

This devotional writer took away from this experience that our whirling and rushing life that we live does to us what the first day of the journey did to those tribesmen. The difference is they knew they needed to stop and restore life’s balance - where we usually do not.

Have you ever felt that you needed the time and space to let your soul catch up with your body?

It is a good indication your SOUL NEEDS REST!

Now more than ever, our society experiences SOUL FATIGUE and it effects our relationships and people in our lives as well as our own selves.

Some indicators of soul fatigue are

things bother you more than they should

you cannot make up your mind about a simple decision

impulses to eat or drink or spend or cravings are harder to resist than they normally should be

you are willing to favor short-term gains in ways that leave you with high long term costs

your judgment is suffering

you have less courage

We need to rediscover the peace the Lord gives and that can only happen when we allow our soul to rest.

Matthew 11:28 NLT

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Jesus calls us to come and lay down our burdens and rest in Him, and there is a very practical way that Scripture shows us how to do it.

In fact, it was ordained by God at creation and sealed in the 10 Commandments - yet it is the one commandment the church has created a loop hole that keeps getting bigger and bigger to our own demise...

1. Discovering the Sabbath Again

Genesis 2:1–3 NLT

1 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

To be holy is to be set apart --- God set apart the last day of the week for man to rest from his labor (and let his soul catch up!)

When the body is tired the soul has fallen behind, but we often give rest to the physical man by recreating and distractions, and never allow our souls to settle down.

Exodus 16:22–30 NLT

22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much as usual—four quarts for each person instead of two. Then all the leaders of the community came and asked Moses for an explanation. 23 He told them, “This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the Lord. So bake or boil as much as you want today, and set aside what is left for tomorrow.” 24 So they put some aside until morning, just as Moses had commanded. And in the morning the leftover food was wholesome and good, without maggots or odor. 25 Moses said, “Eat this food today, for today is a Sabbath day dedicated to the Lord. There will be no food on the ground today. 26 You may gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. There will be no food on the ground that day.” 27 Some of the people went out anyway on the seventh day, but they found no food. 28 The Lord asked Moses, “How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions? 29 They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you. That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not go out to pick up food on the seventh day.” 30 So the people did not gather any food on the seventh day.

The day before Sabbath do all the work and preparation even for eating, because the next day it is about doing nothing!

Not running off to the stores, or shopping, or working a short shift or large family gatherings with tons of social interactions and work ---

The Jewish day begins at sunset and continues to sunset when the first 3 stars appear in the heavens the following evening.

There was no food preparation, no turning on lights, riding in cars, even cutting of fingernails!

I looked up lists of forbidden things and they were so long I couldn’t repeat them all --

Rest assured - NO WORK

Active cessation from all labor commercial and domestic

When the Lord rested on the 7th day, it was not from His need but to set an example.... He rested from all active labor - that does not mean he let go of the world and ceased to sustain it, just ceased from any creative activity...

Why???

There needs to be a day a week for each of us to cease from the mental and physical anxiety and stress of striving ...

A day where our soul can rest and find peace, even if the peace is forced upon us!!!

A day to cease from hurrying about so we can focus...

What is the object of our focus? JESUS

Matthew 11:29 NLT

29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

The yoke is a reference not just to a pair of oxen as much as it is the joining to the Lord as a teacher ---

Do you remember the story of Mary who sat at the feet of Jesus to learn from Him and commune with Him, Martha wanted her to help serve and work - but Jesus said she has chosen that which is necessary.

Luke 10:38–42 NLT

38 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” 41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

We need to rediscover the Sabbath and rest in the presence of Christ.

2. Close the Loop Holes

I am not advocating for legalism by any means, but we use some examples of Christ to twist the truth about the Sabbath.

Jesus said he came to fulfill the law and we have not thrown out any of the other 10 key commandments from being viable...

In fact, Jesus takes murder and addresses anger, He takes adultery and fornication and addresses lusting with our eyes...

So, what do we do with His statement

Mark 2:27 NLT

27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.

We take it literally!!!!

This was Jesus response for plucking some grain on the Sabbath so His disciples could eat --

Would it be better for them to faint from hunger?

or how about the man with a deformed hand a few verses down who was healed on the Sabbath - it is a day to save life not destroy it!!!

or how about the ox that falls in a ditch...

Luke 14:5 NLT

5 Then he turned to them and said, “Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?”

There is a common sense that meeting the needs of man are normal...

I like however, the expression if your ox is in the ditch every sabbath, maybe you need to fill the hole!!!

WHY?

The Lord does not want your rest stolen from you!!!

God chose the sabbath because we needed to have rest.

To close down the clutter of the world and its troubles and focus on the Lord, communion, fellowship with God’s people and be still so our soul can catch up!!!!

Your soul needs to have time in solitude -

For those who say we should worship on Satuday - let me just remind you that taking the first day of the week on Sunday has always been the Christian celebration of giving the firstfruits of the week to the Lord and coming to WORSHIP AND FOCUS ON JESUS on the day in which he was RESURRECTED from the DEAD and the day He gave His HOLY SPIRIT to give birth to the church on the day of Pentecost.

I believe our day of Worship can and should also be our SABBATH day of rest, but perhaps we need a day for the LORD and a day for us to rest as well.

Rest does not mean errand running and personal indulgence and activity. It means closing out the clutter and resting in solitutude.

That solitude is liberating ourselves from the pressure of the world!

IF we take the time to allow our souls to rest, then we actually come the following day to give attention to hearing the Lord and receiving His peace and joy as we come to worship and learn.

3. Rythyms of Work and Rest

A survey of 20,000 Christians revealed that most of them identified busyness and constant overload as a major distraction from God.

This survey showed as Christians assimilate in our worldly culture of busyness, hurry and overload they are becoming more marginalized in their lives, have a deteriorating relationship with Christ and have become more vulnerable to accepting worldly assumptions how to live.

Jesus gave us an example how to combat this in our lives by keeping the rhythm of resetting our spiritual man by time alone with God.

Mark 6:30–31 NLT

30 The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. 31 Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.

Jesus had a habit of escaping to the mountain to pray and spend time with the Father.

How do you think the physical man that held His eternal and perfect soul kept up?

By resting in the presence of the Father.

and He calls us to do the same!

We cannot keep going and running an exhausting ourselves, and it is not just the vacation that we need - we need rest that restores our souls in CHRIST as well.

One of the joys I remember from my vacation was doing nothing, quieting my mind, and spending time with Jesus for no one else than myself!

That is why Jesus calls us to COME TO HIM when we have labored and bear heavy burdens...

The best way to start this rhythm is to bring back the Sabbath in our lives, and to also pull away in the day to quiet ourselves to have time with the Lord so our soul can refresh.

It is not a burden of do this and dont do that laid down by legalism, it is a path to surrender and rest when we find that place alone with the Lord.

CONCLUSION

So, let me encourage you to bring back the Sabbath - a day of no work, no errands, no mental stresses to engage in so we can pull ourselves away with the Lord and find rest.

Maybe it is Saturday so our heart is ready and listening on Sunday, or maybe Sunday in church is the beginning to finding a place to take the remainder of the day to rest and be quiet with the Lord.

Realize we need the rhythm of rest in our lives and Jesus calls us to Himself to find a rest that is easy and light to restore our soul.

If your soul is fatigued, find it some help, close the loop holes, and be restored in your soul!