SETTING SLAVES FREE!

SETTING SLAVES FREE!

Heb 4:9-10

9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

Ex 31:13

13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.

That God should force rest upon slaves is a curious thing. They had been conditioned by years of harshness to think of it as normal. They had been trained by the whip that idleness was a bad thing. Today’s frenzied pace is whipping us into the same mind-set. When God delivered the Jews from Egypt He delivered them as slaves. One of the gifts they received was a required rest.

When I was a child Sunday was a day of worship and rest. It was not a usual day but was reserved for reading or sipping tea on the porch. Gradually the machinery of life spun faster and “overtime” was invented with its lure of wealth. Finally one man could not perform all the labor thought to be needed so mother went to work as well. Housework and parenting went begging. Rest ceased! Worship was postponed to another day that never came. We had once again become slaves.

Mark 6:31

31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

If one would carefully read the verses that precede this one it is clear that one need was drowned out by the cries of another and one task hardly was finished before life’s assembly line presented another. Ministry had become the dance of the weary. Jesus put a stop to it. A short Sabbath was needed.

But it is not just the cessation of labor that Jesus recommends. It is the focus of prayer and the presence of God that the spirit needs. Communion with the Creator revitalizes the soul as no amount of entertainment or amusement can ever provide!

What master whips you so that Sunday worship is neglected? Who or what has conditioned you to forego what Jesus described to Martha as “the good part?”

Luke 10:41-11:1

41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

There remains a rest for the people of God. Heaven is that eternal Sabbath where there shall not enter in anything that troubles us.

2 Thess 1:7

7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

Dear Lord, I acknowledge my soul’s need of rest. I sense a great hunger for prayer and meditation but the demands of a busy life have me enslaved. Liberate me and help me to find a place in the house of worship today. AMEN