Rest and Worship

If you have read the Bible or been around Christians or Jews you may have heard of a term called "Sabbath". This is a day observed often times by many different sects of Christians and Jews.

What is Sabbath? Well, it started out pretty simple: it was a day for rest and worship. A day to relax and spend time with the Lord. Sounds pretty nice. But things get complicated, not because God makes them complicated but because we complicate them.

A lot of Christians view Sunday as their Sabbath. It is known as the "Lord's Day." Just one day a week. We have made it a law though. This is what Sabbath has been boiled down to, "Go to church and fear God or else you are an unsaved pagan." Really, I guarantee if "non-Christians" were honest, they would tell you that this is the vibe they get from Christians. This is a major turn off to a stuffy religion.

In Mark 2:27-28 (NLT) Jesus talks about the Sabbath.

"The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath."

WHAT?!

You see, in the context of this, Jesus and his disciples were being accused of breaking the Sabbath (There were 39 things punishable by death on the Sabbath. If you want to preach Law, you better check yourself.)

But Jesus reveals a new concept: Rest (even though the Sabbath was a day of rest).

People have made Rest & Worship a chore. People have made it so you have to serve Rest & Worship. This is an oxymoron! Like a solar powered flashlight! You can't serve rest. How is that possible? If you were serving it, you wouldn't be resting. Therefore it is no longer rest! The whole idea of Rest & Worship becomes a pointless chore.

It says in Hebrews 4 that the promise of entering God's rest still stands for those who have faith in Jesus. Anyone who enters God's rest, rests from his own work.

As Jesus says in John 6:29 (NLT) "This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent."

The only way you can have rest is by believing in Jesus. You were not made to meet requirements on a set day. Actually, you were made to have your needs met by God himself. Rest & Worship are just a means of experiencing His goodness. They are not ways for you to impress God.

So what system have you been following? Are you rested or stressed? Really, think about it.