Inhale (Exhale): Breathing in Grace and Living Out HopeSample

Genesis 1 documents creation, but chapter 2 opens with a paradigm shift, just before the forming of Adam and Eve. From the very beginning, God allowed for the time to stop. To cease activity. Not because He became tired or stressed as we do, but to show us that a balanced life has clear starts and stops.

From this seventh day set aside to stop and rest, God later created for His people what He called the Sabbath—a holy day to break from normal activities to honor Him through reflection, rest, and worship. In Moses’ delivery of the Ten Commandments, the first two had to do with our relationship with God, the third ordained the Sabbath, with the remaining seven about our interactions with others. The pivot point between focusing on God and people was the establishment of a break to just breathe.

In Matthew 12, the Pharisees tried to use the Sabbath to trap Jesus in a violation of the Law with the hopes of bringing charges against Him. They questioned Christ about seeing His disciples break off heads of grain in the field to eat and then, soon after, His healing of a man’s deformed hand in the synagogue. They claimed that picking and eating grain was “harvesting” and healing a man was “working”—both activities considered “violations of the Sabbath.”

Jesus’ response on the grain incident in verses 7 and 8 was: “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.’ For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” His answer for the healing in verses 11 and 12 was: “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would. And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.”

God’s plan for us, each week, is to take the time to simply focus on inhale (exhale). That choice flows best out of a lifestyle committed ultimately to loving Him with all we have, and then loving our neighbors and ourselves. To breathe in His grace and live out His hope.

What can you do—or not do—today to stop and find rest in God?

Learn more about the devotional, inhale (exhale): A 40-Day Journey Breathing in Grace and Living Out Hope at klove.com/books/mercyme-inhale-exhale .