Come To Me



Exodus 31:12-18
12And the Lord said to Moses, 13“You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. 14You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. 16Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. 17It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ” 18And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

Before Moses heads down the mountain to deal with a whole mess of trouble, God leaves him with one last admonition: Pay attention to your worship life. Seems easy enough and yet how many of us can say that we take a deliberate 24 hour break from our work lives every week to simply rest and worship? I will confess right here that I fail at that one almost every week. The worship part shouldn’t be too tough, right? Just go to church on Sunday morning. But what about the other 23 hours of that day? Are you working on something that just didn’t get done during the week? Are you catching up on housework, paperwork, yard work . . . WORK?

It is never my intention to come down on everyone who reads this blog with the heavy hand of the Law. No, instead I want to encourage and build up. But maybe we need a little Law here because as a culture we have completely lost the ability to rest in the Lord. Somehow, if we are caught not doing something all the time, we’re lazy or unmotivated. We’re wasting time which is a terrible sin in this busy world.

“If the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.” I’ve used this quote before and the internet doesn’t give a clear indication of who said if first. But it is absolutely true. Being busy isn’t bad, right? Why should God care if I mow my grass on Sunday? Why shouldn’t I do my laundry all day on Sunday? These are things that need to get done and I’m just too busy to get them done during the week. I’m just too busy.

I’m just too busy to: read a good book
I’m just too busy to: chat with my family
I’m just too busy to: take a nap
I’m just too busy to: go to church
I’m just too busy to: pray
I’m just too busy to: pay attention to my worship life
I’m just too busy to: ________________________
                                 (your answer here)

God doesn’t even mention the fact that there are many things to get done during the week. He merely says that in order for the people to have a healthy life the simply must set aside 24 hours out of 168 to remember God’s grace in their lives and rest – just rest.

One of my favorite passages from the New Testament comes straight from the mouth of Jesus Himself. He addresses that frenetic activity based lifestyle and urges us to rest in Him.

Matthew 11:28-30
28Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

He will walk with us throughout our busy days and carry the load for us. When we allow that to happen, suddenly those Sundays open up and we can actually take some time to rest and be restored for the next 6 days of work. He will help us carry the load so that our busyness doesn’t steal our joy or our relationship with Him.

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