SCRIPTURE: Mark 2:23-28
Imagine a family whose parents buy a cottage and raise their children with the tradition of spending one weekend a month relaxing at the cottage.
The children grow up, and their own family situations change, they cannot keep up that tradition.
Do the parents disown their kids because they refuse to follow the tradition?
No, the cottage is a gift, not a law; of course they want their children’s families to enjoy the gift of relaxation, but they do not need to follow the once a month rule, as if the rule is what mattered.
The cottage was made for the family, not the family for the cottage.
Having grown up in a strict ‘sabbath-observing’ community, I’ve experienced how people have choked the life out of God’s gift.
Jesus (as a human, God’s restored Adam, Son of Man) is Lord of the Sabbath, invited to live out God’s gift of life and rest in a way that blesses God and others.
As God’s restored child, heir of the creation kingdom, I am a lord of the Sabbath, invited to live out God’s gift of life and rest in a way that blesses God and others.
As God’s appointed creation leaders, we must find healthy ways to live out the rhythm of work and rest, which includes enjoying God’s gift of the sabbath.
Are you taking advantage of this gift, are you finding ways for you (and your family) to enjoy God’s cottage, to enjoy and share God’s blessings of work and rest?
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
God, thank You for the gift of work and the gift of rest. Help me to develop a rhythm of work and rest that blesses You, others and myself!