Read: Mark 2:23-3:6
I sat for a time with God and realized the house was perfectly quiet. It was early in the morning, and both of our young adult kids were already at work. What a joy to know they are becoming independent!
BETTER WE KNOW GOD, THE EASIER TO TRUST HIM
People value and celebrate independence. However, God does not have the same attitude. While the ultimate human parenting goal is independence, God’s parenting goal for us is the opposite. He teaches and shapes us to become progressively more dependent on Him. This is not a negative. Dependence on God is a positive. But reliance on God does not grow on its own, in a vacuum. We need to intentionally and repeatedly choose to be dependent on God and ask for His help to transform us to become more dependent. The better we know God, the easier it is to trust and depend on Him.
SABBATH AND DEPENDENCE
In the Mark passage, there is an uproar about what Jesus did or didn’t do on the Sabbath. It was a repeated point of contention between the Jewish leaders and Jesus. What does Sabbath mean for believers? What does it say about dependence on God?
Practicing Sabbath is a significant demonstration of our dependence on Him. “So there remains a [full and complete] Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has once entered His rest has also rested from [the weariness and pain of] his [human] labors, just as God rested from [those labors uniquely] His own. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience [as those who died in the wilderness].” (Hebrews 4:9-11)
WHAT IS SABBATH?
Sabbath is more than coming to corporate worship or a list of rules regarding a specific day of the week. A vital ingredient of Sabbath is adopting the attitude that rest and time with God are good; intentionally choosing to rest and focus on God. We are created with limits, the need for respite from work and communion with our Maker. Sabbath is a healthy provision from a loving God. His gift of the Sabbath is a blessing. In this blessing, we make room for gratitude, worship, confession, forgiveness, healing, talking with, and listening to God. We delight in Him. He delights in us. Practicing Sabbath feeds our relationship with and dependence on God. As with anything, the more we practice, the better we will get.
Take regular time to cease striving. Pause and trust God in rest. Speaker and author Debra Fileta says, “I serve a God who is bigger than me and He can take the little I give Him and multiply it.” Just like Jesus fed 5000 people with a boy’s lunch, trust that He can and will accomplish His plan, even when we take time for Sabbath rest.
DAILY PRAYER FOR DEPENDENCE
In the Mark passage, Jesus gathers food and provides healing on the Sabbath. What food or healing might your heart need from God on the Sabbath? In what ways do you regularly rest, renew, and refocus on God? How do you benefit from entering into sabbath rest? How might you benefit from regularly renewing your communion with God? Daily ask God how you can grow in your dependence on Him.
Resource-Podcast Focus on the Family-speaker Debra Fileta: Godly Rhythms to Help You Live Life to the Full (Part 1 of 2)