If you’re reading this on your Sabbath and wondering whether or not this qualifies as work or rest, perhaps you need to ask yourself: What does Sabbath mean to you?
Ray reminded us that although we are “Heroes” in God’s Kingdom, we must be careful not to fall into the traps of the world, where we are meant to do God’s will.
John 17:14-18 (NIV)
14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by[a] the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
Ray shared a brief history lesson on how, even in the church at the time, people used to try and work/pay for their salvation. The church at the time was following the ways of the world rather than the word of God. It reinforced the idea that you could somehow get to Heaven/God faster if you paid or worked for your salvation. These ideas, although not as prominent, are still embedded in us to some degree.
Society has become a place where you must work, work, and work until you can’t work anymore and then you may rest. Some people even say “When I’m retired, only then will I have earned my rest.”
Work is not a bad thing. The world is built on work. You need to work to survive. In fact, when God created the heavens and the earth, animals and mankind, He worked. But what we so often miss is that on the seventh day, when God had finished the work he had been doing, He RESTED.
Genesis 2:2-3 (NIV)
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Now rest may look different to different people. For the Avenger Superheroes it was eating shawarma in a basement away from the world’s distractions and demands. For you it might look similar to that or perhaps something completely different like helping someone out, spending time with family, reading a book, intentionally making time for just you and God etc. I want to encourage you to do some listening prayer and ask God, “What should my Sabbath look like?” and/or “How do you want me to rest?”
I think Ray said it best “Taking a Sabbath is Heroic.” It’s counter to what the world tells you to do. It goes against the culture and everything it stands for. Taking a Sabbath is brave because what you are telling the world is that God is more important than anything this world can offer. You are telling the world that Jesus is your source and sustainer. You are even reminding yourself of who God is to you, when you choose to take a Sabbath. When you take a Sabbath, you are telling God that you still trust Him with your life.
My prayer for you all is that you would continue to be the Heroes God created you to be and to be heroic in everything you do because Christ is in you, the Hope of Glory! May we follow in the ways of the Lord, knowing that His ways and thoughts are higher than ours and that He knows what we really need.