Sunday morning, Mother’s Day & I’m on my way to meet my son & daughter-in-law for church. Whoops! Just talked to them & there was confusion as to what service we were attending. So now, it looks like that I have 1½ hours to do whatever. No problem. I will park somewhere read & pray for a while then I can head over to a store in the area & pick up some groceries that I need. Nice day. Lovely beautiful morning to talk to the Lord & . . .
So in the distance I see some lovely, lush trees with new spring leaves all against a beautiful Carolina blue sky. And all I can think of is peace, rest, rest & today is Sunday, the Lord’s day, rest. O what has become of this rest in me?
Sunday. What is it meant to be? Why consider it? Today I did.
This day is like a picture for us to not only look at but also to participate in its glorious purpose for us. It is a day where everyone can get a glimpse of heaven, hear its joy & sense its glory & even more the One Who sits on His throne in such a heaven. How kind of God to actually give everyone the opportunity to taste heaven. And so although it is a command, it is a kind & good command? He knows the heart of man that it is desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9). He knew that “none seek God, not even one” (Ps. 14). And so a law was engraved in stone in order to be engraved in hearts. His command was to be our provision from the beginning. Ever since He created this world, He declared, & mandated one day to be “heaven-like”. And the scripture tells us that He, Himself “did” the Sabbath – God rested.
So on the seventh day God rested from all His work. . . Gen 2:2, 3
A day was set for all mankind to taste & see that the Lord is good. A day was given for all to sense His rest, His peace in a specific manner. Sunday is a very tangible gift from God in order to point us to Him.
Sunday is to be a day where everyone – Christian & Pagan – is invited to participate in such rest. Factories close, machines stop, engines cease, no time clocks punched, no bricks laid, no pizza’s thrown. The week’s work is done. The stores have closed. All is stopped by the command of the King of Kings. Or so it should be. It is a day meant for us to sense His rest, & experience His peace. It is a day that ought to make us consider & anticipate the time when such a day of rest will become endless days of rest. What could such considerations do to our perspective on our life, our labor, our time, our eternity? Sadly, such days as described above are no more. And so it is one more way that men have “suppressed the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18).
His intentions for this day have been disdained. We have thought that we know better & must follow our own thinking. So the machines continue to roar on this day. Business is as usual. Many hasten to complete one more task. And the gift of rest for one day in seven is set aside, unopened. Even worse, the Giver is totally ignored. All hasten not to get a glimpse of Him but instead to earn 1 more dollar, view one more game or sew one more stitch. We have missed once again His kind intention. We have missed that He is good & that all that He does is good & that this day was made in this way for His good reason & for our good. We have missed His invitation to taste & see what He is like & even what heaven will be like. And so our Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays become more difficult, more weary. We begin to wonder why the work that we do in them is less fulfilling. Or it becomes too fulfilling so that if we ever cease our work, we are totally lost. And then our thoughts grow into worry & the worry grows into high anxiety, & high anxiety becomes stress which carries throughout our days. But then the days become nights, when sleep should come. But it does not. Our beds are marked by sleeplessness instead of sweet dreams. And so the doctors tell us that we have disorders, depression or even syndromes called “restless legs”. So meds are prescribed because they will promise us a chemical rest. And once again God is removed from the arena. And for those of us who have set aside all of God’s “billboards”, who say, “I know better”, who bow not to His authority but to our own personal thrones, why are we surprised when rest does not come? We have not believed that His power has given us all things that pertain to life & godliness (2 Peter 1:3). We have not believed that His ways are indeed “higher than ours” (Isa. 55:9). We have not believed Him.
May we stop? May we believe Him?
Thus says the Lord:
Stand in the ways & see, and ask for the old paths, there the good way is.
And walk in it: Then you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, “We will not walk in it.” (Jer. 6:16)
Needless to say, I decided not to do that grocery shopping. God spoke through His marvelous Word to me & I found rest for my soul. May I, may you continue to heed His invitation.
Come unto Me all who are weary & heavy laden & you shall find rest for your souls. (Matt. 11:28)