There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:9-10, NIV)
The professional golf season is probably longer than it needs to be. The Tour Champions wrapped up yesterday, and the PGA and LPGA Tours are scheduled to finally catch their winter breath after this weekend. It’s a long stretch, as bad as your kid’s club soccer team!
What about you? Is the plate of your year still heavy with meat and potatoes? Maybe it’s time to start thinking about rest.
If you think something this meaningful can happen with a catnap here and some meditative moments there, you haven’t caught the vision, nor have you gained from the practice.One of the hallmarks of Scripture is its unfolding revelation. The early pages move rapidly, from creation to paradise to sin. And then this: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). It is the first prophetic inkling of the Messiah who would come to save this wayward, desperate people. It is also the opening step of the long journey that would ensue through the centuries and unfold through the biggest chunk of what we call the Bible.
Throughout those many pages from Genesis 3 to Luke 2, when the power of the Most High overshadowed Mary, we read of the way God led his people by way of the law. Here were the precepts he knew to be best for their physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies—and among those regulations was the call to Sabbath, to rest. For six days, the people would work; on the seventh day they would rest. Completely rest.
The way the threads of righteousness are traced from Old Testament to New is not entirely consistent. Some of the law was to be upheld absolutely by even those “set free from the law.” But where the details of the law sometimes went away, the idea behind the law remained. Among these threads—which include worship of God alone, the rejection of idols, honesty, sexual purity, and the whole-bodied love of God and neighbor—was rest.
What is more is that the rest is to be purposeful. It is intended to separate us from the work and worries of the normal days of our lives. It is a step into the sacred. If you think something this meaningful can happen with a catnap here and some meditative moments there, you haven’t caught the vision, nor have you gained from the practice. In a word, you have to give it time.
From a series of truly Sabbath days to a longer sabbatical commitment, consider the time you will carve out to rest and reflect on the person and work of Christ and your relationship with him. Don’t wait till the end of the year. The payoff will be best when set firmly against the craziness of the coming season.
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Jeff Hopper
November 14, 2016
Copyright 2016 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.