Luke 10:41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.
Hebrews 4:9-10 There remaineth therefore a sabbath rest for the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest hath himself also rested from his works, as God did from his.
One of my heroes of the faith, Watchman Nee, once said something profound about entering the rest of God. He said, “Carnal Christians crave works; yet amid many labors, they are unable to maintain calm in their spirit. They cannot fulfill God’s orders quietly as can the spiritual believers… their hearts are governed by outward matters. Being “distracted with much serving” (Luke 10:40) is the characteristic of the work of any soulish believer. They have not yet entered the rest of God.”
Now that Martha is in Heaven (for some 2000 years) I have often wondered how she feels about being an example of distraction and carnality, and to what extent it’s possible to move away from that kind of activity into a place of rest and peace and relationship as we serve the Lord.
The Sabbath is certainly an opportunity to discover and practice the kind of rest and abiding in Yeshua that Watchman recommends here. All of us have experienced “spiritual” activity which is distracted, performance based, and undoubtedly less fruitful and effectual than it could be. But must it always be so? The Lord would not have rebuked Martha if He didn’t hope and expect her to learn from His admonition.
There’s no question that we can learn a more mature way of serving. Mary has shown us the way, and Shabbat is the perfect opportunity to learn it. Sit at His feet, quietly, attentively, and learn of Him. Entering deeply into His rest will change the way you work, all the following week. And by resting well, we improve the quality of our work and even multiply our time. We give, He adds. We divide, He multiplies. We rest, and because of our abiding, He works. Shabbat Shalom!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]As Joshua led the children of Israel into the promised land it seemed that God had given them an impossible assignment -- to conquer a foreign and hostile land with fortified cities and armies greater than their own. They had to go forth only on the basis of God's promise. They had to walk by faith and not by sight!
Over the weekend, the ministry lost a dear brother who suddenly died of a heart attack. In times of mourning, the realization dawned (once again) that this life is utterly fleeting ... a vapor in the wind ... and these frail human bodies in which we dwell are mortal dust. We are living in the land of the dead and dying, and only those of us who truly know and are known by the Messiah, upon our death, will enter the land of the truly living!
An ancient story in Church history tells of the apostle John. He would constantly repeat the words, "Little children, love one another." And his disciples became weary of the phrase. Finally, in his old age, as John was being carried to their assembly, the disciples asked him, "Why do you always repeat these same words?" "Because friends," John replied, "it is the Lord's commandment -- and if only this one were fulfilled, it would be enough."
The apostle John quotes Isaiah 53:1, saying to whom has the z’roah [arm] of the Lord been revealed? It’s a question that God answers throughout the rest of Isaiah 53, describing in detail the life of Yeshua (Jesus) and the ultimate price He would pay for the sins of the world.
During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific Island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades. Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves.
The great evangelist and teacher Charles Spurgeon had a plaque on his bedroom with the words written on it, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction."
The word for builder in Hebrew is “bo-neh”. It is also translated repairer. When our Messiah came 2000 years ago, He came to repair lives -- to do a complete restoration of all that is broken in this world.