Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest starts on Friday evening and ends with sunset on Saturday. Our “Sunday-s” are inspired versions of the “Sabbath”, where we come together and worship Abba, being immensely blessed by the fellowship and the corporate anointing.
And yet, the day stands for more than just a ceremony to be carried out every 7th day of the week.
God values Sabbath to the extent that He even included keeping the day as part of the 10 commandments!
The History and Significance of Sabbath
God Himself rested after creating the world in 6 days! (See Genesis 1-2)
Therefore, He wants us to sanctify and set apart the day as one where we rest in Him and honor Him as the source of all our provisions.
It’s the day of dedication and submitting the week to come into His hands.
Interestingly, the entire nation of Israel and Judah ended up in exile and was taken over by foreign powers for they failed to let the land rest for 70 years!1
When we rest, we possess.
When we strive, we barely survive.
No child of God was ever created to work out their own salvation. Jesus, the Lord of Sabbath, is the author and finisher of our faith and all He asks of us is to possess everything that His love on the cross has already won for us.
The Sabbath stands as a weekly reminder to rest in that selfless love that gave up His all for us.
How Can I Honor the Lord of Sabbath?
Before you get any ritualistic ideas of how to please God on Sabbath, note how Jesus and his disciples were accused of breaking Sabbath laws because they healed the sick, fed the hungry and redeemed the oppressed, all on Sabbath day!2
Sabbath was meant for men and not men for Sabbath (Mark 2:27). By resting and submitting themselves to God’s sovereignty, people could lay off their burdens on Him who was able to do all things!
Yet, the religious leaders had burdened the common men into believing that in keeping the commandment – word-for-word- by not lifting heavy loads or working on Sabbath, they were in fact pleasing God!
Truly, there is only one thing that pleases God.
FAITH (Hebrews 11:6) and a major component of “faith” is “rest”.
You can’t rest until you believe, and you can’t believe until you rest! For faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
For He Is Able!
Imagine sleeping with your eyes open. Are you truly at rest?
When you believe in Him, it’s like you are putting your mind to sleep.
When you believe in Him, you can expect the most practically impossible things to occur, not because your mind can make sense of it, but because you rest in the fact that your Creator and Savior is greater than your circumstances.
He is greater than the cancer.
He is greater than the debt.
He is greater than the depression that’s tearing your soul into pieces.
He is greater and able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that you can ask and imagine, according to the power that works in you! (Ephesians 3:20)
Hallelujah!
And that power that’s working in you, is your faith. How much do you believe to let go and let Him take over? For according to your faith, will it be done to you. (Matthew 9:29)
The good shepherd, Jesus Christ, calls us again and again to lay off our burdens on Him and take over His light and easy yoke.
Mondays will come and Mondays will go…day on day, week on week, month on month, the cycle continues. What matters is where’s your heart in all of this. Is it in turmoil or at rest in Him?
May the Lord of Sabbath3, Yeshua Hamashiach, fill your heart with His shalom peace and bless you with complete wholeness and well-being today.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen!
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- https://www.evidenceunseen.com/bible-difficulties-2/ot-difficulties/ezra-job/ezra-11-why-were-the-jews-exiled/ ↩︎
- https://www.gotquestions.org/did-Jesus-break-the-Sabbath-law.html ↩︎
- Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5 ↩︎
