Dave’s Monday Blast – March 6, 2017

Last week I shared a few thoughts on the value of rest. The concept of rest involves much more than just “getting time away from work”. The word rest comes from the Hebrew idea of “Sabbath”. Sabbath is simply about spending time with our God. We cannot confuse “work for God” as Sabbath. (Remember my brothers; God does not need our help anyway). Nor can we confuse “rest, but not in Christ” as Sabbath.

A good brother sent this to me last week, “God provided Sabbath for us as a tiny glimpse/foreshadowing of eternity with Him. No daily grind or toil, just rest. Freedom from the temptations of sin. An uninterrupted period to spend with Him. An opportunity to experience true corporate worship. A taste of Sabbath came (theoretically, if observed) at the seventh year and the year of Jubilee.” Remember Satan wants us to see resting in Jesus as optional when God sees it as imperative (Exodus 20:8).

So, it begs the question, how do we rest in Christ?

Jim Denison suggests the following:

1. Make time every morning to be alone with Jesus in His worship and in His word.

2. Make time through the day to reconnect with Him through ceaseless prayer.

3. Make time at the end of the day for confession and thanksgiving.

4. Make a Sabbath, a day each week during which you rest from work AND focus on worship and quiet so the Spirit of God can minister to your spirit.

5. Make occasional extended times to be alone with your Lord.

Notice each sentence above begins with the word “make”. Make is a transitive verb. A transitive verb is an action verb which has a direct object to receive the action. We can define the word “make” as “to begin an action or cause something to happen”. So…if we are to rest in Christ we must make that a priority. We must “MAKE” it happen.

God not only has given us permission to experience Sabbath, but commands us to do so because we desperately need it. This coming week is a good time to find time for your soul. To make it happen. The less you have time for a Sabbath, the more you need one!  That’s good isn’t it!