“Then he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27
The disciples and Jesus were walking through a field on a Sabbath day. The disciples took some of the grain and started to eat it. The Pharisees got upset and claimed that they were doing something unlawful on the Sabbath.
Jesus points out how David had eaten some of the consecrated bread with his fellow-men. David was highly admired by the Pharisees as one of God’s favored men. Then Jesus tells how the Sabbath was actually made for man.
When God created everything, He worked for six days then rested on the seventh. The Sabbath was to be a day of rest and a day devoted to God. It was to allow man time to refocus back directly and completely on God as he gets some rest.
Many studies have been done over the years showing how it is not good for a man to work seven days or more in a row without rest. The productivity goes down and the accidents go up.
In America and many other parts of the world, the workforce tends to work seven-day stretches or more to make more money. People are trying to earn more so they can buy more stuff to fill the empty void in their lives.
God wants you to take time to rest. During this time it is to be focused on worshipping Him. What better way to rest then in worship of God? In heaven that is the primary thing everyone will be doing…worshipping God.
In this time of rest, though, God is not demanding you do nothing at all. What is your focus on that day? Is it only about self and building yourself up? Or is it about God and being more like Jesus?
You must take time to eat, which means you must take time to cook. This is work that has to be done on a Sunday. If you are eating just to please yourself, you may be eating for the wrong reasons. If you eat to nourish yourself so that you may do more for God, then you are doing it for God and the right reason.
Be careful about being like the Pharisees and following too many laws too strictly. God is a God of love and freedom. Freedom to serve and worship Him in life.
The Sabbath, (our Sunday now), was made for you. Enjoy it and worship God in it.
I pray today that God will help you to slow down and rest at least one day a week; that God will help you to worship Him on your day of rest; that your focus will be on serving and loving God with all of your life; and that you will honor God in all that you do.
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