Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Probably from the time we’ve been children, our parents, teachers, employers and other adults have been trying to teach us the fundamental principle of cause and effect, especially as it relates to our choices, words and behavior, am I right? Learning that principle early in life can prevent a great deal of pain and bring some wonderful blessings.
Come with me and let’s rejoin Mr. Isaiah as he’s writing a powerful message from God for the people of Israel 2700 years ago, which is amazingly relevant for you and me today, no matter where you live in the world.
Did you know that God says there are some direct cause and effect relationships between our attitudes and actions toward what God calls ‘the Sabbath’ and every other part of our lives? Isaiah has picked up his stylus and is writing what he hears God saying to him which is both for the people of his day and for us today: “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will…” (Is. 58:13)
Oh, before we see God’s promised result, let’s be sure we understand what God describes here, in Isaiah 58:13, as the first, vital part of this formula. Do you see the central theme repeated several times in this one, long sentence? The theme is rejecting SELFISHNESS!
By God’s design the Sabbath is a day to focus on God and His restoration of our weary bodies, His renewal of our emotional energy and His realignment of our hearts and minds with His! Selfishness is exactly the opposite. Selfishness, as God describes it here, is when we DO what we want, GO where we want, and even SAY the things we want, all for the satisfaction of our selfish desires, and pursuit of our happiness… on HIS Holy Day! In so doing we defile God’s Sabbath, and we elevate ourselves and our selfish desires or agenda far above God and His desire for our relationship with Him! That’s dangerous!
But if we restrain ourselves, if we discipline ourselves, if we genuinely pursue delighting ourselves in God by honoring God on His holy Sabbath day, then we have positioned ourselves to receive God’s blessing! And so, God continued this powerful cause and effect statement to Isaiah with these words: “…then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” (Is. 58:14a)
Joy, of course, is a theme for the Jewish people from the days of their escape from Egypt. Their great annual festivals are all about the joy of celebrating their God and all God has done for Israel through the centuries, as well as personal joy found in a relationship with Almighty God, their Creator. The idea of ‘riding in triumph’ is the hope of every generation who wants to live in safety and security from their enemies and in triumph over those things which would seek to destroy their lives. Feasting is something all of us look forward to when families and friends gather for joyful celebrations and for the Jews, their feasts always celebrated their unique heritage and lineage which they traced all the way back to Jacob, father of the twelve tribes of Israel.
For God’s chosen and covenant people, Israel, the Sabbath had been a God instituted, weekly celebrated, day for pausing from all other normal, busy life activities, so they could focus on their unique relationship with God. Even to this day “Shabbat” begins at sundown on Friday and concludes with sundown on Saturday. It usually begins with a family meal at Friday sundown during which time Scriptures are read which draw the family to focus on Almighty God and His love, His provision, His protection, His guidance of His people Israel through the centuries. But Jews in Isaiah’s day, and all through time to our day, just like you and me and all of us, have found themselves struggling to PAUSE for an entire day from their frantic lives. They, like we, find it even more difficult to PONDER, to reflect on God and His greatness during that day of Sabbath. They, like we, find it even more difficult to PURSUE a realignment of our hearts with the heart of God, especially on that Sabbath day.
And so then as now, all too often, there is very little difference between a Sabbath day, for Jew or Gentile, and any other day of the week. And we all know when that happens occasionally, it can soon become often and before long there may be no distinguishable difference between Sabbath and the other six days of the week.
And you’ve probably experienced, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends, this selfishness on the Sabbath naturally causes spiritual drift. It nurtures distance between God and His people and distance breeds disconnect and even discord in our relationship with the God of Sabbath.
Now let’s pause just a moment and reflect. What does your “Sabbath” look like normally? From morning till night, how do your Sabbath activities compare to what occupies your day the other days of the week? All through your Sabbath day, how does the focus of your heart and mind compare to the rest of your week? By the end of your Sabbath, do you often find you are really well rested and ready to step back into your busy week? Are you renewed emotionally and ready to re-engage with the challenges of your life? And is your heart and mind realigned with the heart of God at the end of your Sabbath, so you feel spiritually renewed and read for a new week of life?
As we close today my “Walking with Jesus” friends, please do not hear me advocating a restrictive, monastic, legalistic lifestyle but rather a full, weekly Sabbath set aside to enjoy your heavenly Father, and His Son your Savior, and His vibrant Holy Spirit who loves you unconditionally and longs to nurture a wonderful relationship with you, which gives you great joy in living each day here on earth, and prepares you for an eternity with Him forever!
Listen again to the promises of God in these words: “Then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.’ For the mouth of the LORD has spoken,” (Is.58:14)
Oh, may I urge us to spend a moment asking our Lord Jesus to help us gain a fresh, new perspective on what HE would like a wonderful, weekly Sabbath of peace and spiritual renewal to be like for each of us, no matter where we live in the world, no matter our age! And I have found a “Shabbat Shalom” song of joy for all of us…
Today’s Scripture: Is. 58:13,14.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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