Sabbath Rest in a Restless WorldSample

The Sabbath Keeps Us

In returning and rest you shall be saved. (v. 15)

Today is the final devotion in our Sabbath series. The irony is not lost on me that as I write this, I’m using my Sabbath to finish and meet my deadline! It’s so easy to slip back into patterns of productivity and overwork and dismiss our deep need for rest.

The Israelites also knew how easy it was to fall back into patterns of overwork and placing their trust in people and things other than God, which only brought oppression and ruin. God speaks to their anxious hearts, calling them back to himself: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength” (v. 15).

Let me say a few final things about Sabbath. First, remember that God’s command to keep the Sabbath is not a means to salvation but the result of it. We don’t obey God to get God to save us. We obey because, in Christ, God has already saved us, and this is what it means to be his people. Second, Jesus reminds us that the Sabbath is for humans, humans are not for the Sabbath (see Mark 2:27). When we are legalistic about the Sabbath, it becomes a joyless duty rather than a gift of delight. Third, the Hebrews kept the Sabbath because they knew, in the end, it was the Sabbath that kept them. And so it is with us. May the Lord of the Sabbath keep you in his rest and be your strength.

As you pray, ask God to keep you in his rest and help you make the Sabbath a way of life.

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