Dave's Diary

Prayer

Before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 119:124-125

LORD, I long to serve You with all my heart.
Please deal with me in Your unfailing love.
Teach me Your decrees and give me discernment
so I may understand your laws.
Amen.

Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your awareness to the voice of God, coming to you through His Word.

Reading

Matthew 12:1-14

In Genesis 1, when God created the world, He did so in six days. Then, on the seventh day, He rested.

Later, when God delivered the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, He decreed that they should keep each seventh day holy and set apart for Him as a day of rest – a “sabbath”. On this day they were to do no work.

This would mark His people as set apart and different from all the surrounding nations. It would give them a weekly opportunity to remember everything that God had done for them. And it would also be an expression of their faith that their livelihood did not depend solely on their own efforts and hard work, but that God could be trusted to care for them while they rested and honoured Him.

The sabbath was a gift from God to His people. It was a day of remembering, of rest, of restoration and of spiritual renewal. It was never meant to be a religious burden!

Tragically, by the time of Jesus, the religious authorities had created hundreds of rules, which they had designed to ensure strict religious adherence to the Sabbath. They were keeping the letter of the Law, but they had forgotten and left behind the actual purposes – remembering, rest, restoration and renewal.

So Jesus teaches clearly that the Sabbath was a life-giving gift from God and it could never be unlawful to do good on the Sabbath. Sabbath is there to bring healing to God’s people. How could it ever be wrong to heal on the Sabbath. God does not desire religious law-keeping around Sabbath. He wants Sabbath to be an expression of His mercy.

Contemplation

Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn these declarations over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ:

• I will consistently cease from work one full day every week.
  • On that day I will remember with gratitude all God has done for me, rest, and receive His restoration and renewal.

Lord Jesus, please help me to trust You enough to rest. Amen.