Latest / Clay to Crown / Rest: The Discipline We Forgot to Practice

Transcript

Rest: The Discipline We Forgot to Practice · Clay to Crown

0:03
Speaker 1: Hello, everybody.
0:04
Speaker 2: Welcome back to my podcast.
0:09
Speaker 1: Welcome to Clay the Crown. I am your host, Amanda Hughes.
0:15
Speaker 2: Before we get into today, just a little bit of
0:18
Speaker 2: housekeeping and just announcements in general.
0:25
Speaker 3: I encourage you to check out my website and follow
0:28
Speaker 3: me on social media. I And check out my book,
0:32
Speaker 3: Spiritual Logistics, How to Fight with Heaven's Strategies in Earth's Struggles.
0:40
Speaker 3: It's about equating our natural warfare. I was in the
0:45
Speaker 3: military for 21 years. It's putting those practices and things
0:50
Speaker 3: that I learned over that time and putting it into
0:53
Speaker 3: a spiritual warfare context. So I would appreciate it if
0:56
Speaker 3: you would check.
0:58
Speaker 1: Either thing out or both.
1:01
Speaker 3: And as we get going today, we are continuing in
1:05
Speaker 3: a series of spiritual disciplines. And today we are going
1:10
Speaker 3: to be talking about the spiritual discipline of rest. Now
1:14
Speaker 3: I've talked about rest on the podcast before in a
1:17
Speaker 3: little bit different way, not necessarily as a spiritual discipline,
1:20
Speaker 3: but And I just love the concept and the topic
1:26
Speaker 3: of rest in biblical theology. I think it is one
1:31
Speaker 3: of those things that we don't talk about enough, like
1:35
Speaker 3: what exactly it means. Um, and to talk about it
1:40
Speaker 3: today in a context of a spiritual discipline, um, I
1:44
Speaker 3: think is important because we live in a hectic, uh,
1:50
Speaker 3: society here in America, and we're constantly running and doing
1:54
Speaker 3: and thinking that we have to do.
1:56
Speaker 1: All these things. Um, there's a, uh, elderly or older.
2:01
Speaker 3: I know he'd probably be upset if I called him elderly, uh,
2:04
Speaker 3: gentlemen that attends my local church. And, um, he said
2:09
Speaker 3: something recently and I don't forget it because it's just
2:13
Speaker 3: true that we're all going to and fro just frantically
2:17
Speaker 3: that we're all, you know, that we don't ever stop
2:21
Speaker 3: and be still and, you know, smell the roses, uh,
2:25
Speaker 3: to use the old saying. Um, so today, again, we're
2:29
Speaker 3: going to be talking about the spiritual discipline of rest, um,
2:36
Speaker 3: Psalm 62 verse one says, my soul finds rest in
2:39
Speaker 3: God alone. True rest is found in God alone. And
2:48
Speaker 3: you might ask yourself, well, it seems pretty intuitive. So
2:51
Speaker 3: why do we need teaching and commandments, right? God gave
2:56
Speaker 3: a commandment on rest. So why do we need teaching
2:59
Speaker 3: and commandments on rest? I think first off is because
3:04
Speaker 3: we're a restless people. We're a restless people. Also, we
3:11
Speaker 3: gain our self-worth from the achievements.
3:14
Speaker 1: Of our labor. Look what I did.
3:18
Speaker 3: We get pats on the back for things that we
3:21
Speaker 3: do and what we have done.
3:25
Speaker 2: Right?
3:25
Speaker 3: Our lives are measured by hard-fought victories in business or
3:29
Speaker 3: with our hobbies. Our lives are measured by those things.
3:32
Speaker 3: I'm known in my inner circles, I'm known as.
3:35
Speaker 1: The jam lady.
3:37
Speaker 3: Right? I make jams and jellies and I can them,
3:41
Speaker 3: jar them, as my husband would say, you know, and
3:45
Speaker 3: that's one of my hobbies that I do. Our hopes
3:52
Speaker 3: are tied up in what we can accomplish for ourselves.
3:57
Speaker 3: If I could just get this next promotion, if I
4:00
Speaker 3: could just get this next raise, oh, if I could
4:03
Speaker 3: just take 30 seconds off of my run time. Oh,
4:07
Speaker 3: you know, if I could just, if I could just,
4:10
Speaker 3: our hopes are tied up into whatever, if I could just,
4:15
Speaker 3: and everything that the world says will give our lives
4:19
Speaker 3: meaning is strapped to busyness.
4:24
Speaker 1: Your kids have to.
4:25
Speaker 3: Have every, uh, sports experience or they didn't have a
4:30
Speaker 3: good childhood, you know, and then you're running them all.
4:34
Speaker 1: Over the place.
4:35
Speaker 3: Right.
4:35
Speaker 1: Um, You got to rise the corporate ladder.
4:42
Speaker 3: And if you don't, then you are a failure and
4:45
Speaker 3: your life didn't get meaning. And those are very hurtful
4:52
Speaker 3: and false realities that don't hold up when they're compared
4:58
Speaker 3: with the goodness of God, right? Because resting in the
5:02
Speaker 3: Lord and in his provisions are the antidote. to a
5:07
Speaker 3: life that is never satisfied. So when you hear the
5:11
Speaker 3: word rest or you hear the word Sabbath, what do
5:16
Speaker 3: you think of? Most of us, I think, will think
5:20
Speaker 3: of things that we can't or shouldn't do, you know,
5:24
Speaker 3: on a Sunday maybe, some of us on a Saturday,
5:28
Speaker 3: you know, a 24-hour period. You know, but refraining from
5:36
Speaker 3: normal work isn't the ultimate.
5:38
Speaker 1: Goal of rest.
5:43
Speaker 3: Rather, it is the means that allows me to worship
5:47
Speaker 3: the God of the Sabbath.
5:49
Speaker 1: Who instituted the Sabbath?
5:51
Speaker 3: The Lord of all creation instituted it. What does Jesus
5:54
Speaker 3: say in the gospels? He says, I am Lord of
5:57
Speaker 3: the Sabbath.
5:59
Speaker 1: Right? So it's not refraining from normal work. That's the goal.
6:05
Speaker 1: Sabbath allows me to worship him.
6:10
Speaker 3: And I think it's easy for us to miss the
6:12
Speaker 3: point of rest when we make Sabbath about not doing
6:16
Speaker 3: work instead of about the why we're not supposed to
6:20
Speaker 3: be doing work. We're not supposed to be doing work
6:25
Speaker 3: in order for us to not be distracted so we
6:28
Speaker 3: can enjoy our relationship with the Lord. Genesis 1, 26
6:36
Speaker 3: through 27 tells us that on the sixth day, we
6:40
Speaker 3: were created in God's image. The word says, then God said,
6:47
Speaker 3: let us make man in our image after our likeness
6:51
Speaker 3: and let them have dominion over the fish of the
6:53
Speaker 3: sea and over the birds of the heavens and over
6:56
Speaker 3: the livestock and over the earth and over every creeping
7:00
Speaker 3: thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man
7:04
Speaker 3: in his own image. In the image of God, he
7:07
Speaker 3: created him. Male and female, he created them. And then
7:14
Speaker 3: God rested. He rested on the seventh day. Genesis 2,
7:20
Speaker 3: 2 says, by the seventh day, God had finished the
7:23
Speaker 3: work he had been doing. So on the seventh day,
7:27
Speaker 3: he rested from all his work.
7:33
Speaker 1: Did God have to rest? Why did God rest? He
7:36
Speaker 1: didn't have to. He's all powerful. It's not like he
7:39
Speaker 1: exhausted himself.
7:41
Speaker 3: It's not like he needed to recuperate his energy reserves.
7:45
Speaker 1: Or anything like that. So why did he rest? Well,
7:50
Speaker 1: I think the answer to that is.
7:56
Speaker 3: Given in the previous verses in Genesis 1, 26 and 27,
8:03
Speaker 3: humanity was created to work. He gave us tasks to do.
8:10
Speaker 3: He gave us work.
8:13
Speaker 1: Let them have dominion. We are to subdue the earth.
8:19
Speaker 3: Verse 28 says, and God blessed them and he said
8:22
Speaker 3: to them, now this is after he created them, he
8:25
Speaker 3: blessed them and he said to them, be fruitful and
8:28
Speaker 3: multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have
8:32
Speaker 3: dominion over the fish of the sea and over the
8:35
Speaker 3: birds of the heavens and over every living thing that
8:38
Speaker 3: moves on the earth. So Sabbath rest is a gift.
8:47
Speaker 3: God instituted rest as a gift because when we live
8:54
Speaker 3: a life of busyness, thinking that we're doing all this
8:59
Speaker 3: good stuff, right? Quote unquote good. You know, we're working appropriately.
9:04
Speaker 3: We're meeting deadlines. We're allowing our kids to be involved
9:11
Speaker 3: in all these extracurricular activities.
9:13
Speaker 1: You know, even my gardening sometimes, it's good stuff, right?
9:21
Speaker 1: Even I'm serving in the church. That's good. I'm serving people.
9:24
Speaker 1: That's good.
9:25
Speaker 3: You know, we could almost lift our busyness up as
9:29
Speaker 3: a badge of honor, right? Look at me, I spent
9:33
Speaker 3: four full days at the church this week. You know,
9:37
Speaker 3: look at me, I helped with this event and that event,
9:39
Speaker 3: and I'm helping in kids ministry and all of this stuff.
9:43
Speaker 1: We can lift it up as a badge of honor.
9:47
Speaker 1: And then it could leave us.
9:49
Speaker 3: Maybe taking it forward to a point, have we ever
9:52
Speaker 3: had the feeling that we're not doing enough to please
9:55
Speaker 3: God or please the people around you? You know, if
10:00
Speaker 3: we're equating our good service to just people pleasing, that's
10:07
Speaker 3: wrong too. So how much serving is too much? We
10:14
Speaker 3: don't think of busyness as a sin, but it keeps
10:17
Speaker 3: us from following and hearing God.
10:21
Speaker 1: It can be.
10:24
Speaker 3: Is our busyness keeping us from God? If so, it
10:28
Speaker 3: could be a sin. Busyness can also be something that
10:35
Speaker 3: we use to avoid intimacy.
10:41
Speaker 1: We all have junk in our life.
10:44
Speaker 3: We can use business from keeping us from dealing with
10:47
Speaker 3: uncomfortable things.
10:53
Speaker 1: This is all back to a life of busyness.
10:55
Speaker 3: Everything that we do can be being detrimental, even though
11:00
Speaker 3: it's quote unquote good.
11:03
Speaker 2: Right?
11:05
Speaker 3: How many times have we just come home exhausted because
11:08
Speaker 3: we don't know how to say no? I tell a
11:12
Speaker 3: friend of mine, I have learned to say no over
11:15
Speaker 3: the years. Early on in my serving life in the church,
11:21
Speaker 3: I was not the best at it. But over the years,
11:24
Speaker 3: I have learned the wonderful word, no, I can't do that.
11:30
Speaker 3: And I don't remember, I don't even remember what friend
11:34
Speaker 3: it was. or the details surrounding it, but I remember
11:38
Speaker 3: having a conversation with somebody, and I said, you know,
11:42
Speaker 3: there's a wonderful word in the English language.
11:45
Speaker 1: It's called no.
11:48
Speaker 3: It's an easy word, a simple word, and it's a
11:50
Speaker 3: word that needs no explanation. If you can't do it,
11:54
Speaker 3: you can't do it. It's called no. So setting boundaries
12:00
Speaker 3: can be hard, especially with service-minded people. especially in the church,
12:06
Speaker 3: because we want to help. We want to give back.
12:08
Speaker 3: We want to do, we want to be there. So
12:12
Speaker 3: it can be hard, but you have to set boundaries
12:15
Speaker 3: for your own, for your own peace of mind and
12:19
Speaker 3: your own rest.
12:22
Speaker 1: And it can be tough to sense that.
12:26
Speaker 3: It can be tough to understand and to sense when
12:30
Speaker 3: this is more that I can handle, but I'm sacrificing
12:33
Speaker 3: for the Lord crosses the line into I'm sacrificing, but
12:40
Speaker 3: now I'm doing more damage to my own soul, my marriage,
12:43
Speaker 3: my life, my kids. Right.
12:46
Speaker 1: That could be a fine line.
12:51
Speaker 3: But here's the thing, getting back to Sabbath, that was
12:54
Speaker 3: all about busyness, the things that we tell ourselves in
12:57
Speaker 3: our busy lives. But remember what Jesus said. Sabbath was
13:06
Speaker 3: made for man, not man for the Sabbath. He gave
13:11
Speaker 3: us the gift of Sabbath so we can rest well.
13:17
Speaker 1: He rested. He wants us to rest.
13:21
Speaker 3: And again, we're talking about spiritual disciplines, those habits and
13:24
Speaker 3: practices that help us build our faith. So Sabbath was
13:29
Speaker 3: given as God's provision to help us thrive, to engage
13:33
Speaker 3: in life-giving practices. So just rest in the Lord and
13:38
Speaker 3: ask him, what do you have for me today as
13:41
Speaker 3: your gift in my life? What will restore me, body, soul,
13:47
Speaker 3: and spirit? This is going to be different.
13:51
Speaker 1: For everybody.
13:53
Speaker 3: It's going to be because we're all unique and we're
13:56
Speaker 3: all in different seasons of life. So whatever the answer
14:00
Speaker 3: to that question is, what do you have for me
14:04
Speaker 3: today as your gift in my life? I'm refreshed by solitude.
14:12
Speaker 3: I like spending some time alone. Just me and the
14:18
Speaker 3: Lord alone. just me and my plants, you know, just
14:22
Speaker 3: me doing what I like to do, maybe going for
14:25
Speaker 3: a walk. I'm refreshed in that. Others are refreshed by
14:30
Speaker 3: spending time with friends. You know, maybe others like me
14:35
Speaker 3: being in nature, being in my yard, it refreshes me.
14:43
Speaker 3: Somebody else might be refreshed in a totally different setting. Right,
14:49
Speaker 3: but Sabbath is God's provision to help us thrive and
14:53
Speaker 3: to engage in life giving practices. And Sabbath is also
15:00
Speaker 3: God's way of protecting us from our addiction to production.
15:05
Speaker 3: Did you, did you know that? As Americans, we have
15:10
Speaker 3: an addiction to production. Sabbath is God's way for us
15:17
Speaker 3: to be free of things like checking our email or
15:21
Speaker 3: any of the other oughts or shoulds, like I should
15:24
Speaker 3: do X or I ought to do Y.
15:28
Speaker 1: Why don't you need to check your email on the weekend?
15:32
Speaker 3: Because you can't do anything about whatever that email says anyway, right?
15:37
Speaker 2: Right?
15:38
Speaker 3: Now, obviously, everybody's different. Every situation is different. If you're
15:42
Speaker 3: an on-call doctor that weekend, you're working, right? You got
15:45
Speaker 3: to answer your texts. But if you're not, you don't
15:49
Speaker 3: have to be strapped to the phone.
15:53
Speaker 1: And why not?
15:53
Speaker 3: Because it is the practice of the sovereignty of God. So, like,
16:00
Speaker 3: in my context, I am the discipleship pastor at my
16:04
Speaker 3: local church. if I really believe that my ministry doesn't
16:10
Speaker 3: depend on me doing a certain thing now, that if
16:16
Speaker 3: I can just trust that God is in control, I
16:19
Speaker 3: can step away and I can practice Sabbath. And Sabbath
16:28
Speaker 3: is a great gift of God to help us regain perspective.
16:35
Speaker 3: You know, your phone ever gets stuck? You know, it
16:38
Speaker 3: like locks up on you or your computer lock up
16:42
Speaker 3: on you.
16:42
Speaker 1: What do you do? You hard boot it, right? You
16:46
Speaker 1: power it off.
16:50
Speaker 3: Well, every once in a while, it's helpful for you
16:52
Speaker 3: to turn off your phone, computer.
16:55
Speaker 1: And your brain and reboot. Give yourself a reboot.
17:01
Speaker 3: God gives us Sabbath as a way to do that,
17:04
Speaker 3: to regain perspective, to realign our priorities. Sabbath is also
17:11
Speaker 3: God's reminder that he built us for rhythm. We were
17:17
Speaker 3: not designed to just keep.
17:19
Speaker 1: Going and going and going. Our whole world is a
17:25
Speaker 1: world of rhythm.
17:27
Speaker 3: As you read in the scriptures, you see The yearly
17:31
Speaker 3: rhythms of seasons. The monthly rhythms of the lunar cycle.
17:37
Speaker 3: Weekly patterns set off by Sabbath. And then the daily
17:43
Speaker 3: rhythms of night and day. I mean, that was established
17:48
Speaker 3: from the very beginning. And there was evening, and then
17:50
Speaker 3: there was morning, the first day. And there was evening,
17:54
Speaker 3: and then there was morning, the second day.
17:57
Speaker 1: Right?
17:58
Speaker 3: Each of those rhythms are important. So Sabbath was, I
18:07
Speaker 3: said in the beginning of this episode, you know, I
18:11
Speaker 3: read in Genesis chapter 2 where God rested on the
18:14
Speaker 3: seventh day. And it's the climax of the creation story
18:18
Speaker 3: that God rests.
18:21
Speaker 1: So what's absolutely being said there? Like, what's being said?
18:25
Speaker 1: What does it mean?
18:28
Speaker 3: So there's two Hebrew words that can be translated for
18:31
Speaker 3: our English word, rest. And when we understand their definition
18:37
Speaker 3: and their function in the story, I think it gives
18:40
Speaker 3: us a more robust understanding of what rest really means.
18:44
Speaker 1: Okay, so let's take a look at it.
18:46
Speaker 3: Again, Genesis 2, verses 1 and 2. Thus, the heavens
18:52
Speaker 3: and the earth were completed and all their hosts. On
18:56
Speaker 3: the seventh day, God completed his work, which he had done,
19:00
Speaker 3: and he rested on the seventh day from all the
19:03
Speaker 3: work that he had done. That work rested is the
19:09
Speaker 3: Hebrew word Shabbat, right? Where we get Sabbath. Well, in
19:16
Speaker 3: another place where he's giving the laws and he's giving
19:21
Speaker 3: the commandments and he's, um, refreshing them again in Exodus 20,
19:29
Speaker 3: the author of Exodus.
19:33
Speaker 1: Is describing what happened in the creation narrative.
19:35
Speaker 3: He says, four and six days, the Lord made the
19:38
Speaker 3: heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is
19:41
Speaker 3: in them and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the
19:47
Speaker 3: Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Two
19:52
Speaker 3: totally different words. In Genesis 2, it was the word Shabbat.
19:58
Speaker 3: In Exodus 20, it's the word.
20:01
Speaker 1: I think it's nuach. Nuach. It's where Noah comes from.
20:08
Speaker 1: The name Noah means rest.
20:10
Speaker 3: It's from this root rested here in Exodus 20.
20:18
Speaker 1: So the Hebrew word Shabbat means to cease from.
20:21
Speaker 3: He ceases from his work because it is finished.
20:25
Speaker 1: He's done. He's done creating.
20:27
Speaker 3: He created all the animals, all the trees, all the.
20:31
Speaker 1: Grass, all the fruit, all the vegetables. He created it.
20:35
Speaker 1: It's done.
20:37
Speaker 3: And then so compare that with Joshua 5, 12, after
20:43
Speaker 3: the Israelites went into the promised land and the manna
20:47
Speaker 3: ceased on that day. It's the same word, Shabbat, ceased.
20:53
Speaker 3: So the Hebrew word Shabbat in Genesis 2, meaning cease from.
20:58
Speaker 3: God ceases from his work. Now, the Hebrew word Noach,
21:06
Speaker 3: means to take up residence. So compare that with Exodus 10,
21:15
Speaker 3: with the plagues, says the locusts came up over the
21:20
Speaker 3: land of Egypt and rested, they nuach, in all the land.
21:26
Speaker 1: So when God, in.
21:31
Speaker 3: Exodus 20 example, or people, nuach, It always involves settling
21:37
Speaker 3: into a.
21:38
Speaker 1: Place that is safe, secure, and stable.
21:43
Speaker 3: Like in 2 Samuel 7, now King David dwelt in
21:46
Speaker 3: his house for Yahweh had provided rest from his enemies.
21:57
Speaker 3: God's rest is about God's presence taking up its rest
22:02
Speaker 3: within a sacred space by filling it with his divine presence.
22:08
Speaker 3: Where did this happen in the Bible? Eden, the tabernacle,
22:16
Speaker 3: the Holy Spirit resting inside of us.
22:24
Speaker 1: Taking up residence.
22:32
Speaker 3: So what does lack of adequate rest do? You know,
22:38
Speaker 3: because there's consequences for not following God's plan of rest.
22:45
Speaker 3: When you're tired physically, your judgment, your mood, your ability
22:48
Speaker 3: to learn and to retain information is lacking. You may
22:54
Speaker 3: increase the risk of serious accidents and injuries, right? Anybody
22:57
Speaker 3: been tired when they're driving and their eyes are just heavy?
23:00
Speaker 3: That can be very dangerous, right? It could lead to
23:04
Speaker 3: a host of health problems, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease,
23:10
Speaker 3: and even early mortality. So what does a lack of
23:15
Speaker 3: adequate rest do spiritually? We may lose our ability to
23:20
Speaker 3: hear God's voice and discern his movement in our lives.
23:24
Speaker 3: We may lose our sense of hope and feel helpless, trapped,
23:28
Speaker 3: or defeated. We may lack motivation for life and feel
23:32
Speaker 3: like it's a waste of energy. You may feel far
23:36
Speaker 3: away from God. We may experience depression and hopelessness, feel
23:42
Speaker 3: numb and apathetic. You don't feel any sense of accomplishment
23:48
Speaker 3: and lack satisfaction. Now, I just did that little segue, right?
23:54
Speaker 3: What does lack of adequate rest do both physically and spiritually?
23:58
Speaker 1: And you're like, wait, Amanda, you were just talking to
24:00
Speaker 1: this great biblical theology about the two Hebrew words, Shabbat
24:05
Speaker 1: and Nuach, and Nuach meaning taking up residence and all
24:08
Speaker 1: of that, right? I'm telling you, I'm getting somewhere.
24:12
Speaker 3: So if God's rest is about God's presence taking up
24:16
Speaker 3: its rest within a sacred space by filling it with
24:21
Speaker 3: his design presence, then the words of Jesus in Matthew
24:25
Speaker 3: 11 take on a whole new perspective.
24:30
Speaker 1: Matthew 11, 28, Jesus.
24:31
Speaker 3: Says, come to me, all you that labor and are
24:35
Speaker 3: heavy laden, and I will.
24:37
Speaker 1: Give you rest.
24:41
Speaker 2: Rest.
24:44
Speaker 3: Come to me, allow me to take up residence in
24:47
Speaker 3: your soul, and I will give you rest.
24:50
Speaker 1: Rest.
24:54
Speaker 3: You know, and Sabbath is not a one-size-fits-all thing, right?
24:58
Speaker 3: What kinds of things can you do to practice Sabbath?
25:01
Speaker 1: It depends. Set margins in your day. Take days off.
25:08
Speaker 3: Refrain from activities that drain you. Do restful activities that
25:14
Speaker 3: you enjoy, you know, like walk on the beach, read,
25:17
Speaker 3: go on a picnic, garden. I haven't done it much
25:22
Speaker 3: this year because it's been so hot.
25:24
Speaker 1: But some of.
25:25
Speaker 3: My favorite times with the Lord, my best times with
25:28
Speaker 3: the Lord have been me and my pruning scissors and
25:33
Speaker 3: me going out into my yard, just pruning and walking
25:40
Speaker 3: and praying and thanking God and pruning and walking and
25:44
Speaker 3: praying and thanking God, right? We have to be intentional
25:49
Speaker 3: in these things. Well, What else can we do to
25:56
Speaker 3: practice Sabbath rest? Spend time in prayer. People who pray
26:01
Speaker 3: regularly tend to get physically or mentally ill less frequently.
26:05
Speaker 3: Meditate on scripture. Make a deep focus. Focus your mind
26:13
Speaker 3: on something. The Psalms are a great place to start.
26:18
Speaker 1: Spend time in worship.
26:19
Speaker 3: Worship is recognizing God's place of honor in our lives.
26:23
Speaker 3: We talked about worship in a previous episode. I encourage
26:26
Speaker 3: you to go check that out if you haven't already.
26:31
Speaker 3: Spend time in nature, right? Nature itself has its own
26:35
Speaker 3: rhythms of rest.
26:36
Speaker 1: Hello, seasons.
26:42
Speaker 3: And then say no to your flesh because ultimately it
26:46
Speaker 3: comes down to this. In a culture of busyness, that
26:51
Speaker 3: sometimes we just have to say no to the busyness
26:55
Speaker 3: and yes to the Sabbath rest that we'll find in
26:58
Speaker 3: God alone. We follow God's example and command by remembering
27:05
Speaker 3: and resting. We are called to observe Sabbath, to rest
27:11
Speaker 3: from our work and to celebrate all he has done
27:14
Speaker 3: in and through us. Eugene Peterson says that Sabbath rest
27:20
Speaker 3: is an invitation to practice for eternity in God's presence. Now, again,
27:27
Speaker 3: I'm not necessarily talking about a 24-hour period.
27:32
Speaker 1: And I don't know that.
27:35
Speaker 3: You know, and I'm still working through this and I'm
27:36
Speaker 3: still studying, but I believed when Jesus Christ said it
27:40
Speaker 3: is finished on the cross with the work that he
27:44
Speaker 3: did on the crossed, on the cross, that he's hearkening
27:52
Speaker 3: back to the ceasing of work that creator God did
27:59
Speaker 3: in the garden, that he himself did in the garden
28:03
Speaker 3: when it says that the Lord.
28:06
Speaker 1: Rested from all the work that he had done and.
28:10
Speaker 3: That everything that he created was in right relationship with
28:16
Speaker 3: We were in right relationship with him. We were in
28:19
Speaker 3: right relationship with each other and with creation. And when
28:25
Speaker 3: Jesus says it is finished on the cross, he puts
28:28
Speaker 3: everything back in that right relationship. That's what I believe.
28:35
Speaker 3: I believe rest is an act of regular and intentional
28:38
Speaker 3: trust in God's rule. We Shabbat in order to nuach.
28:46
Speaker 3: Because when we stop working, we can truly rest in
28:49
Speaker 3: God's presence. We cease in order for God to take
28:54
Speaker 3: up residence inside of us. God created a true place
29:01
Speaker 3: of rest for us. It's first found in the architecture
29:06
Speaker 3: of time on the seventh day. But ultimately, he created
29:11
Speaker 3: a place with him through Jesus. It is here that
29:15
Speaker 3: we find our rest. From work and rely on his grace.
29:20
Speaker 3: It's here that we delight in his work and celebrate.
29:25
Speaker 3: Our rest, our peace, our tranquility is found in him
29:28
Speaker 3: alone and it is fulfilled in his presence. Let the
29:34
Speaker 3: beloved of the Lord rest secure in him for.
29:38
Speaker 1: He shields him all day long.
29:41
Speaker 3: And the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.
29:45
Speaker 3: Deuteronomy 33, 12. And Psalm 116, 7 says, Be at
29:51
Speaker 3: rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has
29:56
Speaker 3: been good to you. I hope you've enjoyed this episode
30:03
Speaker 3: of Clay to Crown. Again, I've spoken on rest a
30:06
Speaker 3: few different times on the podcast and on my website
30:11
Speaker 3: and my blogs. It's one of my favorite topics to
30:14
Speaker 3: talk about. And so if you're interested in any of those,
30:19
Speaker 3: please go check them out. Leave a like and a
30:21
Speaker 3: comment anywhere that you find me and this ministry.
30:25
Speaker 1: And until next time, grace and peace.