September 23 - Lord of the Sabbath

 Read today’s texts first: Daniel 11,12; Luke 6

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

Rules, works, comparisons, judgments and religious
pride are the antithesis of who God is
and who we should be.

The Pharisees missed it again.  Instead of focusing on their relationship with God, they reduced their faith to rules and regulations.  The Sabbath was made for man, to connect us with the Lord of the Sabbath.  But the legalists turned it around, implying that man was made for the Sabbath.  They became slaves to a system, turning a weekly opportunity for a faith lift into bondage to a repressive religion.

We do the same thing in the church today.  A relative of mine lost faith in the church because of the legalism, perceived or real, at his Christian school.  His friends were reprimanded and, at times, suspended for offenses like listening to secular music while shooting baskets after school in the gym, walking around with their shirt untucked, or having white markings on what should have been all-black shoes!  He connected what seemed like pharisaical legalism to the church in general.  How many others have done the same?  When North Americans are polled, the vast majority say they love the man Jesus but not His church.  We are perceived as hypocrites who focus more on rules that our relationship with a loving God.

The Jews today have elevators in Jerusalem (we rode them a few years ago) that automatically stop on every floor during “Shabbat” (sabbath).  When you aren’t supposed to lift a finger to touch an elevator button, Jesus was asking a man to raise his shriveled arm and then He healed him.  The purpose of the Sabbath is restorative (the day of rest).  Spending time with Jesus eating (v. 1) or being healed in His presence (v. 10) is exactly the spirit of the Sabbath.

“Lord of the Sabbath, help me interpret and live out Your Word in the Spirit it was written – the Holy Spirit.  Rules, works, comparisons, judgments and religious pride are the antithesis of who You are and who You’ve called me to be.”