I am starting my day with a hot cup of Door County Cherry Creme Coffee. Our Subject today will be rest. I have done this before but I believe God desires us to keep the Sabbath holy and rest.
In my line of work (health care) we expect that to be a 24/7 type job. So today I am not going to talk to those who have to make a living and work on Sundays. I will however challenge those who have to work Sundays to try and get to church on Saturdays. Many Bible based churches offer a Saturday evening or Sunday evening alternative.
But what I am noticing is that many folks are choosing to miss church because of sports or other non-work activities. Really? Does Little League Baseball or soccer, or volleyball for kids need to be such a priority that we pay huge dollars to get the kids into these clubs or schools and then forsake worship? When we vacation do all the churches close in the location we chose? I am very proud of a young lady from our church that told me where she was vacationing and asked if I knew of a good church there? We wonder why the youth of today fall away from the church when they reach 18-30 years old. Well that is what we as parents taught them. Let's place the blame where it needs to go. With us. Church attendance is secondary to everything else. Don't get me wrong I love these sports myself. But there comes a time to draw a line. What is more important.
Friends I am an avid duck hunter and weekends in the fall are often the time when I can get my hunting in. But I must tell you that the guys ( and ladies) I hunt with always attend their church on the weekends. They hunt outside of the church hours. I am proud to be associated with them.
Now you might say "he's on his soap box again". Very true, I am. But God's Word backs me up and I am not afraid to say His Word doesn't need me at all. It stands very well on it's own, because it is God Himself speaking.
Mark 2:27 ESV
And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
“Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Hebrews 10:25New King James Version
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Proverbs 22:6New King James Version
6 Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Well I think God has spoken through His word. The question is. Will we be obedient and listen?
God Bless,
Marty
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