September 15, 2024 - Mark‬ ‭2‬:‭27

“Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27 NLT

Jesus, what a beautiful statement, especially for the Jews in the time you spoke it. They had all kinds of rules about what you couldn’t do on the Sabbath. The laws were created to keep people from working on the Sabbath. They might have been made for the right reasons, but they don’t work. When rules are placed on us, they might keep us “inside the lines” but it doesn’t change our hearts. Lord, you don’t want us following a set of rules to please you. You have told us things to do or not do not to create rules or withhold from us, but to keep us safe and thriving. And you don’t want us obeying what you ask because we are afraid of punishment, but because we love you and want to listen to your wisdom. You want us to trust that you have our best interests in mind and when you say no, it is for our benefit. When you told us to honor the Sabbath and keep it holy, it wasn’t so that we could have a list of do’s and don’ts to do on that day. It was so that we would have a day for our bodies to recover. It was to be a day that we set aside to sit with you. A day to go deeper in relationship with you and to allow you to fill us with what we needed for the next week.

Lord, in the fast-paced, never stopping world we live in today that is always demanding our time, attention, and energy, we need to stop and rest with you more than ever before. It will only benefit us. You created the Sabbath because we need it. We need you and time with you that the Sabbath is supposed to create. Help us not to agree with this only in principle, but to agree with it enough to change our lifestyles to make taking a Sabbath rest something we value and do. We want to make space for you in our lives.

In Jesus name, amen.