Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Grace”
Our Bible verse for today: “You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 5:13 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “God graciously gives us the freedom to rest.”
As we already know, grace is a matter of God’s blessings freely bestowed upon those who don’t deserve them. One of those blessings freely bestowed upon us from God is the freedom to rest. God established the Sabbath as the day when all our work and our preoccupation with making a living is to stop, and we are to focus instead on gathering with our church family, engaging in corporate worship, and resting. Sabbath rest is a gift from God – it is a matter of grace.
Unfortunately many of us think we’re too busy to rest. We get so caught-up in the demands of life that we routinely disobey God’s command regarding Sabbath rest. Even if we do abstain from the work we do to earn a living, we often fill the time with other tasks such as yard work, or car maintenance.
Recently I came across a poem which President Harry Truman liked. If you know anything about Harry Truman then you’re probably aware of the fact that he was one of the hardest working Presidents we have ever had. He was a workaholic. But he knew this to be true about himself, and he was also a Christian, so he was intentional about attending worship services and then resting and relaxing. Here’s the poem:
“Every man’s a would be sportsman, in the dreams of his intent.
A potential out-of-doors man when his thoughts are pleasure bent.
But he mostly puts the idea off, for the things that must be done,
And doesn’t get his outing till his outing days are gone.
So in hurry, scurry, worry, work, his living days are spent,
And he does his final camping in a low green tent.”
Of course, the low green tent the poet refers to is the canopy erected over the man’s grave for the benefit of those attending his funeral.
Sabbath rest is a gift to us from God. He could have instructed us to work like dogs non-stop seven days a week. Instead He gave us the gift of rest. It is part of His grace to us. Accept the gift. Attend a worship service this weekend and get some rest.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 