Mark 2:27-28 And He said to them, The sabbath came into being for man’s sake, and not man for the sabbath’s sake. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the sabbath.
People often ask me why I so enjoy Shabbat and the rest it affords and why I preach on it so often. Some people think it’s a “legalistic” attitude, but actually, I’m simply being relational. They need to remember that our relationship with the Lord Yeshua is bridal; it’s a marital relationship. [Ephesians 5:22-33; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:7-8]
Marriage counselors invariably recommend a “date night” for married couples to maintain a healthy, passionate, and strong relationship. The date night immediately invokes a new atmosphere for the couple to experience and cultivate the specialness of their relationship. Of course, I’ve been married to my wife all week, but tonight, date night, is special, unique, and intimate.
Setting apart the Sabbath for God serves the same purpose as “date night.” I’m saying, “You have given me rest, I’ve grown to deeply trust you, I know you’ve been with me all week, and now, on one special day, my ‘date night,’ I’m expressing my love for you, and I want to know you better.”
My approach to the Sabbath is not because it’s a commandment. In fact, the New Testament contains no command to observe a particular Sabbath day. It’s even more significant and profound than anything that I “have to” do precisely because it’s voluntary. I desire to be with my Bridegroom to know and love Him better, and Shabbat is my day, my weekly habit, for that joy. I’m choosing to have a “date night” so that I can thoroughly enjoy the intimacies of the Lord and be refreshed and renewed! So, really do enjoy your “date night” and until next week — Shabbat Shalom!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Sometimes, the more significant, powerful, or influential someone is, the less you know about him or her. There are some people of influence whose names most of us have never heard, and about whom we know almost nothing, yet they make decisions which affect millions of lives.
Charles Spurgeon wrote “Prayer pulls the rope below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly. Others give but an occasional pluck at the rope. But he who wins with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously, with all his might.”
Caesarea Phillipi, where Yeshua (Jesus) revealed himself as Messiah to His disciples, was home to the Temple of Pan, a place so demonic that many of the rituals performed there are too horrible to mention in a daily devotion…
This groundbreaking conversation took place at Caesarea Phillipi, which lies today in the modern day reserve of the Banias in the Golan Heights region of Israel. The city was established by Ptolemaic Greeks, a Hellenistic community where the worship of the god Pan was centered. Reviled by the Jews of Yeshua’s time and considered by them the most idolatrous place in the entire Galilee, to this day it remains a place of nature worship and deep paganism…
David’s faith and courage in volunteering to fight Goliath was an embarrassment to his big brother Eliab, an officer in King Saul’s army. I imagine his thinking went something like this; “If my little brother wins everybody will ask, ‘How come you didn’t go out and fight him?’” The Bible records that Eliab “burned with anger at David and asked, ‘Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is…’” These are devastating words from an older brother. Before David could defeat Goliath he first had to overcome the attitudes, accusations and words, of those close around him.
The noted English architect Sir Christopher Wren was supervising the construction of a magnificent cathedral in London. A journalist thought it would be interesting to interview some of the workers, so he chose three and asked them this question, “What are you doing?” The first replied, “I’m cutting stone for a shabby 10 shillings a day.” The next answered, “I’m putting in 13 hard hours a day on this job.” But the last said, “I’m helping Sir Christopher Wren construct one of London’s greatest cathedrals.”
It is among popular “Christian” belief that an abundance of material and other blessings follow those whose hearts are truly after God and that those who seem to consistently struggle to that end, cannot possibly be in God’s perfect will. I want to submit to you a realization I had about this very thing. I think we might have it all backwards.