| Good Morning Everyone, Our theme for this month: “Resilience” Our Bible verse for today: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work … For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.” Exodus 20:8-10 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Practice Sabbath.” The practice of Sabbath is an idea that’s commonly misunderstood in our day. First, we usually think of it as something that Old Testament Jews did. Second, if we do apply it to ourselves in these New Testament times, it’s usually thought of as attending a church service on Sunday. But Sabbath is more than that. Although God did intend for there to be one day out of seven that is set aside for worship, fellowship, and rest, the practice of Sabbath extends beyond that. More than being a day, Sabbath is a way of life. Sabbath is a mindset that helps us to remember that life is more than always being in motion – always doing and accomplishing. This is important for us and for our study of resiliency because resilient Christians are the ones who are focused and who can be depended upon to take action – and to keep at it until the thing is done. And then, they shift their focus to the next thing. But nobody can go, go, go, all the time. If you do, you will run out of gas and soon you won’t be much good to anyone for anything. In addition to being proactive and taking charge and accomplishing important things, resilient Christians also take care of themselves. This is where Sabbath comes in. The weekly day of worship, fellowship, and rest is essential. But more than that, the daily practice of Sabbath is perhaps even more essential. We need “God time” and we need “me time” every day. There has to be time carved out of our busy schedules for prayer, Bible study, and quiet reflection, and also time for rest, exercise, and relaxation. We need this if we’re going to be able to go, go, go the rest of the time. It has been rightly said that the battle is won in the quiet times. In other words, the Sabbath times are the times of preparation. It’s during those Sabbath rests that our body is renewed, our spirit is nurtured, and our batteries get charged. Then we’re ready to go out and be a mighty force for good in our world, instruments of ministry in the hands of the Holy Spirit making a positive difference in a hurting world. I encourage you to take care of yourself. If you don’t, you will become increasingly less and less effective until eventually, you won’t be much good at all. When daily and weekly Sabbath rests are a regular and non-negotiable part of your life, you will be at your best. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
| Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. |
-
Follow
Following
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Oak Hill Baptist Church 