"Let's
take time to Rest"
Exodus
20:8-11. Pastor Matt
Today we are going
to talk about taking time to rest.
What do you like
to do to rest?
Before we get started,
we are going to do an exercise in rest: everyone take your shoes off, loosen
your ties, lay your heads back close your eyes, and just relax for a minute.
(play sitting on the dock of the bay)
Some of you know
all about rest, especially on Sunday mornings when you finally sit still long enough for your body to put you into a deep
sleep during one of my sermons.
Some of you cannot
remember when the last time you rested was.
Personally, I take
very seriously my time of rest.
What does the Bible teach us about rest?
WE ARE TO WORK SIX DAYS AND THEN REST
Exodus 20:8-11 (4th commandment) says “remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy”
“Sabbath”….to cease, to rest, to desist from labor, to put an end to
There is this
day called the Sabbath where we are to stop doing what keeps us busy all week long.
We are to rest from our work in this world.
“Keeping it holy”….is
set apart and dedicated to the Lord. It
is set apart for a specific purpose. This is God’s day, not ours.
We are to
have a specific day of the week that we see as a sacred day to keep us from work. It’s
like having your anniversary every week. You would not dare schedule to work
on your anniversary unless you want to sleep in the dog house. You have a special
day that you do not want anything to get in the way of. You are guarding it,
protecting it.
(We do not understand
the concept of holiness in this world today because nothing is set apart. People
don’t save their virginity for their wedding day; we live in a disposable society.
Nothing is sacred any more)
o Some will look down on you if you work on Sunday
§ This commandment never indicates what day you are to take off
§ The Jewish nation made up their calendar and picked their day off as
a nation
§ In reality, we do not have accurate calendars that go back to the time
the 10 commandments were written, so we are really only guessing what day of the week we are actually on.
§ Some have based their religion on a man-made calendar
Colossians 2:16. tells us that we should …not let anyone
judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
- the commandment tells us that we are to work six days and then we must rest
o that’s all it says
o everything after that has been added to God’s Law
o it makes sense for us all to get together on the same day, but that does not mean it always has to
be on a Sunday
How can I make this
happen?
Some practical suggestions:
A. Schedule a day off every week (remember
we are to set it aside/ make it holy)
-
The Jewish Day of Preparation
-
Plan your week in such a way that you can
rest on your day off
o (don’t have to make 18 trips to Wal-Mart and waste all that time)
- When you get ready to go on vacation, you prepare so you don’t have to worry about
the everyday stuff while on vacation. Pretend Sunday is your once a week vacation.
- Just because society is so busy does not mean you have to be.
o Busyness is not part of God’s plan for you
- How do you feel when you don’t get a day off?
o I get stressed, grumpy irritable, cant think straight, make bad decisions, I am not myself
B. Find out what God wants you to do and do it.
Romans 12:2. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern
of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will
is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
- Start your days and weeks by asking God, “What do you want me to do today?”
o No one wants to be around a person who is always on their way to somewhere else, whose mind is always
on the next thing they have to do. They are never really there.
o They go moment to moment never really doing anything, just moving from one thing to the next.
This is especially
true when it comes to the church as a whole…
Romans 12:6. We have different
gifts, according to the grace given us.
1 Corinthians 12. One body many
parts
We often can
not rest because we are doing things we do not have any business doing
If we stop
doing the things we do not have the gifts to do, God will provide (most likely He already has) the people we need to do what
needs to be done
As a church,
we do not want to add to the burden of life, to add to your list of things to do. We
do not have church on Sunday nights because there needs to be that balance between rest and worship.
If we limit
our weeks and days to doing just the things God wants us to do, we will find that we have plenty of time to rest.
Don’t
ever feel guilty for resting because it is a command of God
C. Do not allow other things or people to control your life
Exodus 31:12-13. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites,
`You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that
I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
Our Sabbath day
(day of rest) is God’s way of showing us He is in charge.
It is hard enough
doing what we need to do on a seven day week, now to do it in just 6?!
God has a funny
way of asking us to do less so He can do more.
When we give an
entire day to rest we are saying, “God you are in control of my life, because taking a day off does not make sense.
Rest
lets God know that he is still in charge.
We
are trusting Him with our time and the rest of the week.
When
we do not settle down, we are staying in control all of the time. God wants to
be in control.
Psalm
46:10. “Be still, and know that I am God.”
1 Corinthians 6:12. "Everything is permissible for me"--but not
everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything.
The
church was disputing over goofy religious rules (Food to eat, etc.)
Paul
responded by saying…
There are a
lot of things a believer can do, but not all things are to their benefit.
Regardless of what
you do, nothing should be in control of your life except the Lord.
Galatians 2:20. I have been crucified with Christ and I no
longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
himself for me. We died to self to live for Him
For example…
…if
you work too much so you can pay your bills, lesson your bills so you do not have to work too much.
…many
of us allow t-ball, YMCA swimming lessons, the clubs we are in, even family tell us what to do with our time.
It is appropriate
to follow through with our commitments, but not to be mastered by them
Maybe you are in
a situation that you feel is beyond your control, pray that God will open up your schedule so you can have time of rest
Or
Pray if you need
to move on
D. When you are physically resting, put your mind at rest too.
Matthew 6:25-31
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body,
what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father
feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying
can add a single hour to his life ? "And why do you worry about clothes? See
how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that
not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is
how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe
you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?' or
`What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?'
In your rest, don’t
worry about this life, trust that God will provide
1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
You can’t
carry the world on your shoulders.
It is not our job
to help everyone all the time. We are not Jesus
Closing
Ultimately, you
can never truly rest unless you have a relationship with the Lord.
Matthew 11:28-30
- Walking with the Lord, He can guide you into practical everyday rest
- Belief in Jesus can give you that inner rest for your soul
Some of you are tired of
life because you need Jesus
Some of you are just plain
tired because you need rest
Make a commitment today
to trust God with your time and your life. Let him be lord of your week. He knows what is best for you
