Sabbath

Monday, October 9, 2023

“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you.  You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God.  On that day no one in your household may do any work.  This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you.  All your male and female servants must rest as you do.  Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.  Deuteronomy 5:12-15

The Ten Commandments are urban legends to many people, a series of trite, religious no-no’s, fraught with threats of what will happen to you if you trespass.  There used to be those Blue Laws, where businesses had to be closed, no selling on Sunday.  Those who chose to skip worship on Sundays were something of a pariah in the last century.  Many pastors would deliver blistering sermons on how heathens would pass-by the church on their way to heaven-knows-what kind of evil practices.  (In full-disclosure I did my share of a somewhat lower-temperature veiled-threat of those…a gentler kind of God will get you if you transgress against His Sabbath rule!).

Now, don’t get me wrong, I still have a very strong-commitment to worship attendance; I believe a Christian cannot grow without consistent Bible Study, worship, and devotional life.  I mostly call it The Surrendered Life.  However, I do believe many people mistake the Sabbath as being the rules of no-no’s, rather than the blessing of do this! 

The difference between the no-no and the this-do is in what God intended for His creation.  With Sabbath, the point is cycles and limitations.  A closer study of why God doesn’t want us to touch some things, and not do some things is that they are harmful to us.  Electricity is good when used properly; it is death when you grab a live wire for the thrill.  Sabbath for the human is a preventative measure against forfeiting a two-fold blessing.

1.    We were designed to rest periodically.  Everything in nature cycles.  Our bodies need rest in these cycles…time to kick-back, recharge, and enjoy.

2.    We need reminders because we are so prone to distraction.  A chief purpose in God’s commandment to keep the Sabbath holy is a reminder of how we need worship, so we will keep our perspective of what is important, right, pure, lovely, and wholesome.  Without those positive grace-reminders, we will degenerate from being children of God, and become wide-open to the enemy’s temptations.

For You Today 

Feeling a little weary?  Sabbath is waiting.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image(s) courtesy of Russell Brownworth (own work…and feet)                   

Images without citation are in public domain.  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

No Help!

Thursday, October 5, 2023

You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world.  So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as,  “Don’t handle!  Don’t taste!  Don’t touch!”?  Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them.  These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline.  But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.  

Colossians 2:20-23

Every rule created by humankind has helped and hurt!  This is true in businesses, communities, families, and any other kind of human interaction, particularly in government!  Rules are mostly created to limit bad results.  On the highways, properly signaling you’re about to make a turn is intended to help the other cars refrain from plowing into your car.  If you forget to signal, it creates confusion; worse, if you signal the opposite of what you’re going to do, signaling a right turn, and then you hang a sharp a left…well, the consequences could have mortal impact.  The rule against making noise in the library is meant to make concentrating on reading easier.  However, the rule should be loudly-violated if the library is on fire!  The rule in business of the customer is always right makes for a pleasant shopping experience…except if the customer pulls out a .45 caliber pistol and demands all the money. 

Properly-observed, rules serve a purpose, but only so far.  When they become bludgeons to manipulate others, it’s time to “rule-out” the rules, go back to square-one, and be ruled by a higher purpose.  This is Paul’s meaning about the world’s rules.  When Christ sets a soul free, to be guided by the higher bar of love, legalistic rule-following never measures-up!

Legalism in the Christian often manifests itself as ugly, cold-hearted cruelty.  You can’t touch that…don’t go there…and, for Heaven’s sake do not drink THAT! These probably have their origin in some higher purpose, but eventually must be put aside if they become idols, compelling us to rely on our personal self-denial, discipline, and skills.  When we worship what we do as being acceptable to God, we have lost all sense of what God really asks of us.  And what is that, which he requires?  Check out what Scripture says:

Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.”  Joshua 22:5b

This is a Christian’s principle.  Serving God with all your heart and soul is looking beyond rules to the heart of God’s love and mercy.  This was what was wrong with the Pharisees.  In Matthew’s Gospel we find the Pharisees judging Jesus and his disciples for breaking rules; they were walking through a wheat field on a Sabbath day and were hungry.  They broke off some of the stems to nibble, and the Pharisees read them the riot act because they were breaking the Sabbath rules by “harvesting” wheat on the holy day.  Jesus told them:

But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’  Matthew 12:7

Paul educated the church folks at Rome to be this way:

Let love be genuine.  Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.  Romans 12:9

For You Today 

So the principle comes down to this…don’t be a phony, breaking rules that are sensible commands of love that resonate with the heart of God, or by trying to manipulate others with rules that give you an edge.  Instead, let love be your rule…doing the best to others, for God.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image(s) courtesy of Pixabay.com                   

Images without citation are in public domain.  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

When You Live in the Land the Lord Your God Gives You

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

“These are the decrees and regulations you must be careful to obey when you live in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.  You must obey them as long as you live.  “When you drive out the nations that live there, you must destroy all the places where they worship their gods—high on the mountains, up on the hills, and under every green tree.  Break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars.  Burn their Asherah poles and cut down their carved idols.  Completely erase the names of their gods!  “Do not worship the Lord your God in the way these pagan peoples worship their gods.  Rather, you must seek the Lord your God at the place of worship he himself will choose from among all the tribes—the place where his name will be honored.  There you will bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, your offerings to fulfill a vow, your voluntary offerings, and your offerings of the firstborn animals of your herds and flocks.  There you and your families will feast in the presence of the Lord your God, and you will rejoice in all you have accomplished because the Lord your God has blessed you.  “Your pattern of worship will change.  Today all of you are doing as you please, because you have not yet arrived at the place of rest, the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession.  But you will soon cross the Jordan River and live in the land the Lord your God is giving you.  When he gives you rest from all your enemies and you’re living safely in the land, you must bring everything I command you—your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, and your offerings to fulfill a vow—to the designated place of worship, the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored.  “You must celebrate there in the presence of the Lord your God with your sons and daughters and all your servants.  And remember to include the Levites who live in your towns, for they will receive no allotment of land among you.  Deuteronomy 12:1-12

Giving-up okra…whether fried, stewed, or covered with any number of culinary disguises, prepared by amateur, or world-renowned chef, was never an issue for me; I despise being in the same county with the stuff.  On the other hand, if you are the doctor who said I had to give up coffee….we might be in World War III. 

When it comes to giving up what we like, harmful to our body, mind, or soul, It’s a matter of deciding if the exchange is worth it.  (Okra wasn’t a hard call to make).

Okra is small-change compared to Heaven and knowing Jesus.  But if you are talking about giving up a twelve-million dollar mansion, yacht, fleet of Rolls Royce, Corvette, Mercedes, and the lifestyle that goes with such, in favor of living with the leper colony, becoming a Christian might give one pause to consider.  That was the rub with Moses’ crew in the wilderness.  Every one of them was doing what they wanted.  But crossing over Jordan and entering the land the Lord was giving them meant change…rules…giving up the past for the future.  Make no mistake, that was going to require some thought…it was no small change!

Fact is…it still isn’t a small thing.  Until maybe you get a little older, a little more creaky in the morning, visit the doctor’s office endlessly.  The idea of climbing in a two-seater sports car isn’t done on the fly anymore…such folding-up of ancient bones takes planning.  And the only four-letter word that comes to mind is r-e-s-t.

And the whole thing begins to make sense; the REST our Heavenly Father promised is the place you’ve been seeking and courting all those years, a place where expectations boil down to a clear conscience, and being loved.  In reflection you know, deep-down, beyond distrust, His place is not only better than anything you imagined…it’s worth putting everything else behind you.

For You Today

If chasing rainbows, faster rides, more fantastic highs, and bright shining things is starting to dim, slow, fade, wane, or otherwise disappear…look up…the crossing of Jordan, that place of rest might be near.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts on Rocky Road Devotions. 

To dig deeper into today’s topic or Scripture text:  Aside  and Isaiah Never Went to Annual Conference

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

A Day of REST

 

Monday, February 28, 2022

Then Moses called together the whole community of Israel and told them, “These are the instructions the Lord has commanded you to follow.  You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the Lord.  Anyone who works on that day must be put to death.  You must not even light a fire in any of your homes on the Sabbath.”  Exodus 35:1-3

When it comes to chilling-out, or relaxing, the whole idea of following the rules seems rather an oxymoron.  How do you alertly follow each detail when you’re busy escaping working at anything?  And how can you “rest” if you’re busy following the rules?  

My dog, Wellie understands being at rest; he is a world-class lazybones!  The little man could sleep through a tornado.

God chose the rhythm of cycles.  Part of that rhythm is one day out of seven dedicated exclusively to the Lord.  “Sabbath” is a Hebrew word meaning “rest”.  It is meant to be restorative in the same way vacation, or day off, has the purpose of regaining strength that has been expended in the everyday tasks of life.  That the Jewish community took Sabbath seriously can hardly be debated…being put to death for taking a Saturday morning shift at work doesn’t restore anything.

The question becomes:  If Sabbath is so important, and recognized as valuable for wellbeing, health, and wholeness, why do so many people ignore it? 

Perhaps my dog can teach us an important lesson of Sabbath-keeping.  Wellie’s interests are centered on sniffing and munching.  When we walk with him in a park, it is mostly waiting for him to finish sniffing every pole, tree, park bench, and square inch of anything else.  If sniffing to see what other dogs may have crossed the path is like reading the newspaper, Wellie’s brand of sniffing is more like doing research for a doctoral degree – he’s never done!  But it is his interest that drives him to sniff unendingly. 

The other half of Mr. Wellington’s life’s-work is food.  He has, as previously noted, a finely-tuned sense of smell.  Added to that gift is a sense of hearing worthy of a submarine’s sonar and radar, the difference being, a sub’s detection is for the danger of any enemy vessels, while Wellie’s nose and ears are more infallible than a King James Bible to detect a morsel of food…ANYWHERE!  He can pretend he doesn’t hear me as well as any other child who doesn't want to come in from playing yet, but he can hear the crinkle of a potato-chip bag being opened ten miles down the road. 

By comparison, an open Bible, praise songs, and prayer don’t hold the slightest bit of interest for my fur-child; food is what drives his attention.  He loves to rest, except when the possiblity of eating or keeping track of other dogs is presented.  But sometimes my dog is better at practicing Sabbath than I am, which is awkward for me; I always work on the Christian Sabbath day.  And here I am, about to encourage us all to use Sunday for that day of rest. 

I’m sure God never intended for Sabbath to be a burden.  Jesus even said Sabbath was made for man – not the other way around.  It is the blessing of rest our bodies, minds, and souls crave.

For You Today

If you’ve filled every moment available with stuff that crowds out the kind of rest which can happen in worship, prayer, and fellowship, has it really been Sabbath?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©