“In the Beginning…” Devotional #29

 

            The Lord created the world in six days and took a day off!  In the beginning included a day of rest and not only did He rest He made the day Holy.  He didn’t stop with just making it Holy; He also commanded that the seventh day, the Sabbath, be taken.  Genesis 2:2-3, “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.  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.” (NIV)  The command to take the seventh day off is in the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:8-11, “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don’t do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day.” (MSG)

            I love, love, love to take naps!  Unfortunately I can rarely take a nap!  Every now and then I squeeze a nap in and it’s usually on a Sunday.  For too long I felt guilty about wanting, no needing and deeply desiring a nap on a Sunday!  But why was I feeling so guilty?  Let’s see…hmmm…maybe because we LIVE IN A SOCIETY THAT DOESN’T BELIEVE IN SLOWING DOWN!  Everybody wants to just go, go, go and don’t you dare stop because you’re tired!  You’re a wimp if you get tired! 

            Here’s another reason for feeling guilty about napping.  There’s only so much time during the week to get things done.  The weekend is supposed to be family time, housework-catch-up time, date-night time, movie night time, food shopping time, ball-game time, watching your kids play on their teams…the lists goes on and on!  Sunday tends to be the day to try to squeeze as much as possible in before another work and school week begin!

            The thing is that’s not what we’re to do as Believers in Christ.  We are to respect His command and take the Sabbath.  We are supposed to take it easy-at least for one day a week.  If He, who is perfect, took a day off, who are we to not to?  We were created in His Image, Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” (NLT)  If we do not take the Sabbath as we are commanded to do what are we saying to the Lord? 

            My friend, know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free!  It’s never too late to change.  If you believe that going to church is enough to fulfill obedience for the Sabbath, know that just going to church is not enough.  If you believe that because you have to work on Sundays you don’t need to practice the Sabbath because if it’s not on a Sunday then it cannot be done, you are wrong too.  You can practice the Sabbath on your day off and if you don’t have a day off…that’s another topic.  My friend if you’re like me, you like to take it easy on the Sabbath, but everyone else around you seems to be going 100mph then slow down anyway.  In the end, when we’re one-on-one with God, the excuses mean nothing and only the truth will stand.  So, in the words of Paul (Ephesians 6:14) “stand firm then,” embrace His Truth, apply it to your life, no matter how long it takes to change, change and take a nap, I know I will! 

 

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*If you would like to read this same devotional in Spanish or know of someone that would please visit my Spanish blog at www.ministerioreflejandolaverdad.blogspot.com