Work and RestSample

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27)

The novel, A Wrinkle in Time, introduces a world characterized by forced conformity. People dress the same, speak the same, and live in identical houses. A child is punished severely for bouncing his ball out of sync with the other children. In this world, even play must conform.

Jesus Christ came to a world that enforced absolute conformity to God's Law. In the hands of the law-keepers, even rest became an unbearable burden. But the world did not yet know Jesus was God's Law in the flesh, the Word through whom the world was made. Jesus came to set humanity free to live, work, and worship the way we were made to. God's mandated Sabbath was more concerned with worship than work. The Israelites needed to turn from their work, once a week, to return to God as a nation. But Jesus brings a revolution. Now God's people will be a nation of priests scattered among the nations. And soon the worship of God's people will happen not in the temple, but in "spirit and in truth" as it is today.

In other words, where the Sabbath encouraged people to come to God once a week, God has now come to us. We can taste true worship, and true rest, anytime, anyplace. The Lord of the Sabbath brings Sabbath to us.

Prayer: Lord of the Sabbath, make me aware of your presence, that I may worship you in spirit and in truth. Please infuse my work and rest with your Sabbath.