The Gift of the Sabbath

# 278 Today’s Living Word comes from Mark 2:23-24 “Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"

What? A mere picking of a few heads of grain is a violation of the Sabbath Day? That's work?????? Where did the Pharisees get this crazy idea?

They got it from Exodus 20:10 which says that no work should be done on the Sabbath, and from Exodus 16:22 in which the people were commanded to gather enough manna on the day before the Sabbath so that they would have food to eat on the Sabbath.

God took a break from the kitchen on the Sabbath to emphasize the importance of a day of rest. Exodus 16:25 says, “Then Moses said, "Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.”

Was God being mean? Not at all, because in making the children eat that leftover manna, He wrapped up a gift that we would do well to open up in our hectic paced world today. The gift of rest. Moses said in Exodus 16:29, “See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath!”

The Lord has what? The Lord has GIVEN! The Sabbath is a gift! It has been given to you by God as a graceful opportunity to rest, and it should also serve as a reminder that we can find our eternal rest in Jesus, for as He said in Mr 2:28, “He is the Lord of the Sabbath. (The Lord of rest)

I am old enough to remember simpler days in this country when the unwritten rule of Sunday reserved that day for church and family gatherings............you know, looking back, I can see why God calls it a gift!

I’m Duane Matz and that’s today’s Living Word.