THE ULTIMATE SPIRITUAL REST
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. Genesis 2:3
I plugged in the meanings from the Hebrew words and couldn't believe what I discovered. Here it is: So God 'praised and gave strength' to the seventh day and 'removed it from common use', because on it God 'ceased working' from his 'trade'.
Something very powerful is going on. This is the first instance of God making something holy, like Himself. When God blesses, he infuses strength. When God makes something holy, it is no longer common and ordinary. And when God rests, he stops everything and ceases his work. This is where God models the principle of one rest day in every seven.
Do I believe that my Sabbath is a day like the other six, except I don't do much? That can be the impression from the past generation as teaching on the power of original Sabbath rest was absent.
When the seventh day begins, I step onto holy ground. If I'm clued into God's Spirit, I take my shoes off at the burning bush. All thoughts of work, the ordinary and mundane, the stuff of the other six days, melts away. I tremble that I am actually immersed in something holy.
I can know that as the fast moving train of my life comes to a screeching halt, as I experience the welcomed silence, God is doing something physical, emotional, and spiritual to me. The 'resting' is very active on God's part because as I rest, He blesses with measures of strength that are supernatural. While I may perceive little, God is engaging in a deep impartation of restoration. And, if I'm using my day of rest to meditate on Him, there will also be an impartation of revelation.
I also realized this morning that there was another time in history where God rested. It was the moment Jesus said, "It is finished." The noise of evil against the Son of God had been on a sharp upward curve, resulting in a horrific crucifixion. While it might have appeared that God had been murdered, "It is finished!" pierced the silence and evil began to tremble. The worst had happened for the fallen angels. The curse had been reversed. Death had been defeated. Sin had been paid for.
So on my Sabbath, I celebrate the rest of God the Son and the earth shattering implications for everyone who embraces Him as Savior.
I don't think I've started spending my Sabbaths like You intended. I'm starting now. Amen.
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Saturday, 16 January 2016.
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