Elisha Vision – Commentary

My view of resting may shock you. The Bible clearly says to rest one day a week (a sabbath to be exact). For Jews it is sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, or in Bible terms, the seventh day. Many Christians observe Sunday and even call it their “sabbath day”. Either way it is one day out seven, and it is a commandment. As a pastor for many years Sunday was my busiest day, so my “sabbath” was Monday. But that is not my shocking statement.

“Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of Yehovah in all your dwellings.” Leviticus 23:3

Six days work, one day no work. But what if I told you that God wants you to rest every day? And if you work all seven days each week, you will not be able to rest any day? Let me mention this great verse and tell you what I believe it means for our earthly lives, not our eternal lives.

“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.” Hebrews 4:9-10

I wish we could go through all of Hebrews 9, but let me simply state that there is a kind of rest promised beyond one day a week, but also, before eternity. God has provided by His Holy Spirit the ability to “be at rest” in our reborn spiritual nature. We can live at rest even while doing very intense work and other activities. However, if we do not take that one day of physical rest, ceasing from our normal labors, then we cannot be at rest during the week.

Do you get it? We are commanded to unplug one day for our own good. We recharge our spiritual batteries and can then focus clearly the rest of the week. It is not about finding the right doctrine about “which” day, but actually doing it. Jesus was quite clear, yet many did not understand what He meant.

And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27

After God made creation in six days. He sat back and appreciated how beautiful and how good it was. We also need to stop and “smell the roses”. What Jesus was explaining was that the sabbath idea was not a command to observe a rest day to make us religious. Rather, we are commanded to rest one out seven because we get tired! It is for us; we need it. Many, both Jews and Christians have turned it into self-righteous day of proving we deserve His love, which is forever impossible.

SHOCKER! But, wait! What if it really is possible to be at peace (shalom) and rest every day? Yes, we can be at rest even at work. It is because we rest in Him. When we get that straight, we will be anxious for nothing, He’s got this! By taking that one day to unplug, we learn (eventually) to rest with Him every day. A sabbath day is for us, not a trial. It was made for us. It is good.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and rain for Israel.

Les Lawrence, a voice of Christian Zionists                     (Read more)