As I am in day 41 of Jeff Anderson’s 60-day Power Read of the Bible, a plan on the YouVersion mobile app, I came across a phrase in Ezekiel that stuck out to me:
Ezekiel 20:10-12 NASBS
So I took them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. [11] I gave them My statutes and informed them of My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live. [12] Also I gave them My sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
My Sabbaths. I hadn’t considered what this meant to me.
The context of this, in the midst of the Major Prophets where God is making clear the punishment and imminent exile of his chosen people, is that the nations of Israel and Judah were given the Sabbaths as a sign of God’s want of a relationship with them.
What struck me was that the Holy day, the Sabbath, was a day God gave his people. They certainly didn’t earn it. In fact, they had committed sins and abominations. But God in his mercy gave them the day so they would know God and be sanctified by Him. Sanctification in simple terms is the setting apart oneself from the ordinary, dedication to God’s precepts.
So I started to think: What’s the application to me? Immediately what came to mind was “my Sunday.” What was I going to do, where was I going to go, which church service fits into “my Sunday.”
But this is not “my Sunday.” I didn’t earn the day of rest. God has given all of us this day to have a deeper relationship with Him, to worship him, and to set apart ourselves for Him.
It’s time for me to do some reflecting on what motivates me Sundays. Is it “my day,” or is it a day to set apart, or sanctify, to do God’s worship and work?
Oh, by the way, if you haven’t power read the Bible, I highly recommend it. It’s a great way to see how God works and how all things point to the Savior Jesus. Maybe the Holy Spirit will show you something that’s just for you to work on.
See you next time.
Erv
Consider God's Word 