God is not content to let humanity struggle endlessly. He wants to bring us back into his presence - back into the abundance of the garden. God wants humanity to experience fullness of life.
Deuteronomy 5:12-15
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.
This is the operating principle behind the entire sabbath idea: You don’t have to be ground to dust in the struggle to survive. God’s abundance - fullness of life - is available to you. The sabbath day was a taste of Eden and Jesus lived a sabbath life. A life of complete trust in God’s provision. A life of rest from toil and self-sufficiency. A life which stopped the grind. And it’s a life he invited all of his followers - including you and me - to experience.
But I don’t just want to apply the sabbath directly to our lives. I want to ask some bigger questions. What does it mean for us to try and live a sabbath life like Jesus?
Question 1: Are you ok with enough, or are you addicted to the grind?
The sabbath challenges us to be ok with what God wants to give us. To put a limit on our drive - to stop the grind - and to acknowledge there is something more important.
Question 2: Are you allowing God to meet your needs or are you trying to make it on your own?
If you are being ground to dust by the demands of this life, let us help you so you can find rest. It’s why we have our Care Center - our food pantry, our co-op, our car care ministry. To ease the burden, to walk with you, so you can breathe again.
Question 3: Do you make time to spread fullness of life or is every moment devoted to yourself?
Humanity was meant to spread and protect fullness of life. That was our vocation. Sabbath is an invitation to go back to that. To make time in our lives to bring life to others. This is why Jesus healed on the sabbath. It’s what the whole day was all about!
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'You Were Made for More' because God created you ON purpose FOR a purpose. This is the vision of Grace Church, led by Pastor Barry Rodriguez and based in Indianapolis, IN.
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