Soul Sabbath

Sabbath rest Mark Buchanan

 

There is a gap the size of eternity can that exist between knowing what is true and believing what is true. The distance between hearing and entering is the doorway of faith. Just as God rested from His works on the seventh day, He invites us to rest from our work of trying to get ourselves together.

One of the secrets to Soul Strength is discovering the power of Sabbath Rest.   Rest reaches deeper and spills wider that merely taking time off from work or going to church on Sundays. It’s not bound to following the rules, and it has little to do with being religious. Neither is rest concerned with sleeping better or taking more time off.

IMG_7749

Sabbath rest is a unique concept altogether. God rested from His work of creation; He rested because the work was finished. Sabbath rest is a spiritual rest, a cessation from our works to earn righteousness.

Thanks to Christ, we no longer have to do the righteous work of keeping the law. Christ has finished this work. Entering God’s rest, the grace offered in salvation, means that we no longer need to work to attain salvation and acceptance from God.

What a relief to know that we no longer have to work at keeping the law with the blood and sweat of our own goodness.

IMG_7697

Mark Buchanan explains the rest of God:

Sabbath is both a day and an attitude to nurture such stillness. It is both time on a calendar and a disposition of the heart. It’s a day we enter, but just as much a way we see. Sabbath imparts the rest of God—actual physical, mental, spiritual rest, but also the rest of God—the things of God’s nature and presence we miss in our busyness” (Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God p.3.

He continues, showing that Sabbath rest is not just a space on the calendar or a day of the week.

“But when I say Sabbath, I also mean an attitude. It is a perspective, and orientation. I mean a Sabbath heart, not just a Sabbath day. A Sabbath heart is restful even in the midst of unrest and upheaval.” —The Rest of God, p. 4.

Soul, how can you discover the rest of God today?

 

Pin It on Pinterest