Getting Job-ed
Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27-29 CSB
Sabbath was a practice set in place by God in Genesis 1 (after 6 days of creating, God then rested on the 7th day) and then was commanded in the 10 Commandments. We see that Moses presents this to the Israelites in Exodus 35:2 CSB, “For six days work is to be done, but on the seventh day you are to have a holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD…”
I believe that Jesus came to fulfill the law of the Old Testament and that He became our rest (Matthew 11:28-30), but I think there is a huge takeaway from the concept of Sabbath in the Old Testament that we really could use in today’s day. This certainly is not an article debating on Saturday vs. Sunday observance of the Sabbath, etc. I feel like that can be a huge hindrance to the great wisdom the Sabbath has for us in 2021 and beyond.
You are not a slave
So God gives this command in Exodus right after He rescues the Israelites from Egypt where they were enslaved- literally working all day, seven days a week to build and serve the Egyptians. God then rescues them out of that bondage and tells them to have a day set aside where they completely rest. This would have been extremely shocking to them: we’ve been enslaved for 400 years and you telling us to rest? This would have been paradigm-shifting.
Now fast forward to 2021, are we enslaved? Our jobs, family and friend obligations, hobbies, sports, etc. can be used by the enemy to steal that place that is only meant for God. Do we take much time to rest in Jesus, our Savior, our ultimate friend? He is our Friend and He is also a part of the Trinity Yahweh. Jesus is worthy of all our attention, praise, devotion, and love.
Jesus is our Sabbath
Jesus is our Sabbath today, but one thing I’m concerned within our society and even in the churches is that we’re so busy working and doing life that we can be missing true life. Jesus calls us to rest in Him, and we hardly take the time out of our Egyptian-American enslaved minds to spend time resting in Him. So, not a law or requirement for salvation, but as a healthy practice both relationally and mentally, we need to strive to take a day to stop and rest in who Christ is for us.
I find this extremely hard, how do you stay productive in this day and age if you’re not running like mad seven days per week? That’s what our culture is teaching now, and mental health disorders have never been more prevalent. Our society for sure should not be our standard of what is good and healthy. That’s not the life God calls us to: He calls us to rest and that His burden is light. We need to relook at our concepts of productivity and find rest in Jesus.
-Austin
