Today’s 333 Devotional: “The Sabbath”

We live in a 24/7 culture with cellphones and the Internet to help us stay connected and assessable. But even with all our new inventions we always seem to be in a hurry and running out of time. Therefore, we push ourselves to the edge, squeezing every second out of our work, play, and family time.

Yet with all these so-called efficiencies, we seem to have less time than ever before. When it comes to life, however, warp speed has a way warping a person’s soul. The thinner we spread ourselves; we’ll find nothing left at the end of the day.

Burnout has become a major problem. We find ourselves bringing work home only to add to the work that’s already waiting for us. And when we wake up the next morning we’re just as tied as when we went to bed.

To counter this overall feeling of tiredness we pop vitamins and no-doze tablets. We take herbal supplements and drink coffee and high-power energy drinks. We do anything and everything to get a boost to see us through the day.

It’s been said that much of our activity is nothing more than anesthesia to deaden the pain of a life that is empty. Therefore, if we don’t want to fall apart, we need to take the time necessary to come apart from all the stresses of life and rest. God calls it the Sabbath.

God established the Sabbath because He knows of our need for rest and worship. He created the Sabbath to be a delight. Therefore, the Sabbath is His word of grace for those who are driven and harassed by stress and anxiety.

The problem, however, is that what God intended to be a blessing, humanity has corrupted. What God designed to liberate; humanity has limited.

When the Pharisees tried to limit what could and could not be done on the Sabbath, Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27)