Daily Devotion – March 2, 2021 – Pastor Erick Thompson
Exodus 20:1-17
20 Then God spoke all these words:
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me.
4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 You shall not murder.
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
When we look at the Ten Commandments, we find a familiar set of commands from God. Yet, I don’t believe we have looked hard at the individual commandments recently, nor thought about why God would give us this particular group of ten commandments. A quick overview of the commandments is that the first few deal with our relationship with God. Then, when we start talking about honoring father and mother, we have turned to focus on our relationship with neighbor. As I look at the commandments, I think the commandment that gives us the most trouble is the sabbath keeping.
I remember talking with a good pastor friend of mine one time who told me that he hadn’t had a day off in over 6 weeks. He was both proud and exhausted. And, I’ll bet he wasn’t doing great ministry. Too often we wear the badge of hard work on our chests as a gold star that proves we are worthy. I fear that we don’t realize the damage we are doing to ourselves, our relationships, and our vocation. Sabbath is given to us by a loving God. A God who even himself took advantage of a day off at the end of creation. Yet, in a society where we try so hard to prove we have value, hard work and long days show our commitment and that we matter. We probably don’t take time to consider what happens to us when we overtax our bodies or our emotional health. While we probably hear from our loved ones that they miss us, we too often take those relationships for granted, and don’t realize the damage we do. A Professor in Youth Ministry once told us that children don’t understand, “quality time;” they only understand “quantity time.” Finally, I believe that we are more creative and productive when we allow ourselves adequate time to rest and recuperate.
God gives the Sabbath to us as a gift. How do you use your Sabbath? Do you set time aside for Sabbath? Or, do you simply check the box on worship on Sunday mornings and assume that you have done your duty? Sabbath isn’t about duty, and it certainly shouldn’t be looked at as something to get out of the way. Instead, Sabbath becomes a vital part of our lives as humans. And, Sabbath doesn’t simply apply to work, it can also apply to electronics, or other things that are not “life-giving” for us.
God wants us to pause, to find a place of peace in our lives. In fact, our biology is built to have downtime! After you finish reading this, I encourage you to pause for one minute to consider how you do Sabbath. Are you really obeying the command of your loving God to find a time and a place for rest? God is calling you to create peace in your life. God is calling you to Sabbath.
Prayer: Dear God, help us to hear your command to rest and to obey it. Help us to see in your gift of Sabbath an opportunity to hear your words of grace and peace. Amen.
