Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
A new “Adult Sabbath School Study Guide” lesson quarterly for our third quarter of 2021 titled “Rest in Christ”. A most important topic for us to consider… and to embrace. The rest, in all its forms, that God has for us. Unlike popular notions, God’s rest is not found in inactivity. His rest in not that kind of a rest. Not a mere physical rest. Because what truly causes unrest is our minds… is sin.
It is sin that causes all our unrest and weariness. And of course, sin is found in the heart and mind. It is our mind that causes all of our unrest. Work was never to cause unrest. Work was to be a blessing, not a cursing. For it is our wickedness that causes the stress that drains our life-force. “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt” (Isaiah 57:20).
Likewise, it is faith in our Father that leads to peace of mind, even as we can be physically exerting ourselves. Because peace, the rest God has for us, is in our minds. It’s like keeping the Sabbath. Merely ceasing from our daily labors is not God’s rest. God’s rest is a peace of mind and heart. “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3). For such is the Sabbath rest. The Sabbath rest is kept in your mind, even as you may be physically exerting yourself.
The Sabbath rest is yours at all times, even during each day… each moment of each day… if we but “remember” all week long. This is always what the Sabbath was to mean for us. Like murder or adultery. The acts are prohibited… but murder and adultery are to be subdued and cast-out in the mind so that the acts themselves are eliminated. And so with the Sabbath. The act of physical rest is a depiction of the “perfect peace” of those “whose mind is stayed on (God)”. As stated above, we keep the Sabbath in our minds. The rest of Sabbath is in our minds. Ours to have and hold at all times.
“For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.’ Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him… “(John 5:16-18). Christ and the Father “work” continuously… and yet are at “perfect peace” and enjoy perfect Sabbath rest continuously, too. The “work” that Christ and Father does continuously does not negate the continuous rest they enjoy. Actually, any “work” supplements the “rest” when done in faith.
Have we unwittingly allowed Jewish tradition to color our understanding about what it means to “rest”? Has the Sabbath-day become a day of self-imposed inactivity so that I can pursue my own personal piety? Do I isolate myself from my sin-sick brothers and sisters on this day to assure I am not polluted by their unholy influence? Or do we take the true principles of fasting as outlined by God Himself (in Isaiah 58: 1-12) and apply those Divine principles to the Sabbath-day (in Isaiah 58: 13-14) so that we too, “shall be called the Repairer of the Breach” (Isaiah 58: 12)? Do we follow Christ Himself as He teaches the Pharisees (and us) that “it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:12), meaning that if we do not do good it is breaking the law of love? Have we misunderstood the true meaning, the true principle that is to be our true motivation? Have we been guilty of substituting this day of High and Holy other-centered love towards mankind, for a day of labor cessation, a day of self-centered rest from our earthly pursuits so we can pick-up those pursuits again well-rested? Like the popular explanation of the gospel that appeals to our self-preservation have we also interpreted the Sabbath-day, this “resting” in Christ, according to our own self-centered goals? Because the only way to “rest” in Christ is to be yoked with Him (see Matthew 11: 28-30). A yoke is a device for work. Our “rest” comes as we work with Christ… alongside of Him… one with Him in His self-sacrificing love-work for the salvation of mankind.
These are serious issues for us to consider. Have we built an entire Babel-tower of personal piety upon the sandy-soil of self? If so, we must allow it to be dashed to the ground. We must turn our face away from our self-righteous tower of holiness and all the meager attempts to save and to promote self and to gain eternal life. And turn our face to our brothers and sisters dying and blind in sin. As we turn our face to self, we lose sight of God. But if we turn to the “least of these our brethren” (Matthew 25:40) we are in fact turning to God. When we reach-out in love to others we are in fact loving God, worshiping God. True worship is living the same life, pursuing the same goals as the One worshiped. The world needs not our piety apart from our self-sacrificing love. It needs Christ. Hence, we are called to be “little Christs” or “Christians”.
As we study this quarter, let us look intently and dig deeply to uncover the precious truths God has for us and for all mankind. Let us not allow others to think and decide for us. Let us become convicted and convinced ourselves in our own hearts and minds. So that we, too, will follow wherever God leads, wherever Truth leads. Let us not just think deep thoughts about God, but come alongside God to be yoked to Him in loving service to our brothers and sisters. This is the “one-ness” He calls us to, the only “rest” He has to offer. Do we want to be “one” with Christ, “one” with the Father? Do we want Christ’s rest, Godly rest? Then take-up the loving field of service you find yourself in. Looking to self we lose our identity. Looking to others to bless them, we find ourselves. Seeking to save our lives, we lose our life. Giving our lives to bless others, we find our life. A paradox to sinful man. A sublime truth to all of Heaven.
With brotherly love,
Jim