Hebrews 4:9-11 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
My wife had a realization the other day and wanted to share her thoughts with you in today’s devotion.
She says, “Being a perfectionist myself, I’ve spent much of my time and energy in this life making myself and my belongings appeal to the senses -- in other words, look perfect, sound perfect, feel, taste and smell perfect. I want my house to sparkle and smell fresh, my and my family’s clothing and hairstyles to be on the up and up, I want my words to sound intelligent and funny, my meals to be tasty and beautiful. I want my work in the ministry to be perfect too. And when I’m not busy making sure those things are all in place, I spend my time and energy wishing I had more time, energy and resources to make them so! I admit it is extreme and it’s a matter which I must daily submit to the Lord. But most of us have some element of perfectionism in our lives. What caused us to become that way is another story. But here is what I believe the Lord is showing me about the business of perfection. When we’re busy spending our time and energy “perfecting” ourselves and our earthly belongings, we miss out on a huge blessing. We miss out on gaining God’s perfection, not only for ourselves and our earthly belongings, but for our heart mind and soul. And when we miss out on that, we’re missing out on a piece of heaven.”
Charles Swindoll said “Business (busy-ness) rapes relationships. It substitutes shallow frenzy for deep friendship. It feeds the ego but starves the inner man.”
Let’s examine ourselves today. What are we busy doing? Let’s stop this weekend and enjoy Shabbat -- enter into a deeper relationship with Him! God is standing by, just waiting for us. He has so much to show us and so much to tell us, if we would only stop giving our time and energy to earthly (and often fruitless) things and give a moment of it to Him!
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
How to display the above article within the Worthy Suite WordPress Plugin.
[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Pregnancy in a woman involves the intimate, meticulous development of a human life in her womb. The Hebrew word for womb is "rechem". The verb, "rachem" (with the same root letters) means to love, to love deeply, to have mercy and to be compassionate. The connection in Hebrew between "womb" and "love" or "compassion" is literally visceral. A mother's love for her baby, so natural, deep, tender and compassionate, beautifully exemplifies our Father’s love for us. He is compassionate and merciful toward his human creatures.
Last night, my wife decided to stay up late to watch the opening night of the Messiah Conference by live stream Internet (a huge gathering of Messianic Jews and Israel loving Christians from all over the world, taking place annually in Harrisburg Pa). Low and behold, who's voice came through the loudspeakers but Riv's, as a dance troupe danced beautifully to her song "Kes Harachamim" (Mercy Seat). How cool!
One of the greatest stories of the Bible is David and Goliath. It's such a good story, in fact, that the world has come to make common use of it! A prime example of this is when the underdog faces an invincible champion in just about any sport on national television, commentators always seem to make mention of David and Goliath.
At first glance, it would seem that God allowed this earthquake to take place in order that Paul and Silas would be set free. The earthquake came and their bands were loosed. There was nothing holding them back. They could have fled immediately -- wouldn't have you?
A woman once asked John Wesley what he would do if he knew that he would die at midnight the next day. "Why, Madam," he replied, "just as I intend to spend it now. I would preach this evening at Gloucester, and again at five tomorrow morning, after that I would ride to Tewkesbury, preach in the afternoon, and meet the societies in the evening. I would then go to Martin's house...talk and pray with the family as usual, retire myself to my room at 10 o'clock, commend myself to my Heavenly Father, lie down to rest, and wake up in glory."
Some time ago, two university students in Moorhead, Minnesota painted a mural on the wall outside their dorm room. It was of a school of fish all swimming in the same direction except for a single fish heading the opposite way. That one fish going the other direction was meant to be Jesus. Included in the mural were the words, "Go against the flow." Sadly, university officials argued that the mural might offend non-Christians, and told the students to paint over it.
It was a bright Sunday morning in 18th century London, but Robert Robinson’s mood was anything but sunny. All along the street there were people hurrying to church, but in the midst of the crowd Robinson was a lonely man. The sound of church bells reminded him of years past when his faith in God was strong and the church was an integral part of his life...