Photo by Mandy Baldwin
“I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.”
Matthew 12:6 NIV
I heard a wonderful sermon last week on the importance of the sabbath. The point the pastor made that stuck out to me the most was when he said that in refusing to take a sabbath we imply that we are better than God. God rested on the 7th day not because he needed to rest, but because he chose to rest to appreciate all that He had created.
When I ignore the sabbath I am saying that my life and the lives of others are more dependent on me than God. I am more important than God. That hit me between the eyes. But then Jesus comes along.
Jesus was challenging the religious leaders of His day because He was making changes to their teaching. He ate meals with sinners, talked with outcasts, and broke Sabbath. I do not claim to understand all that Jesus was doing. I never will because He is God and I am not. However, what I see is his desire to bring life and love and relationship to the people in a way that had been absent in their system of religion before.
Photo by Mandy Baldwin
It’s not about the Sabbath…it’s not about picking grain on a day they weren’t allowed to do work…it’s not about healing a man. It’s about Jesus. It’s about knowing Him and being known by Him. It’s about His compassion and love. It’s about the FACT that He is greater than I…knows more than me…is worthy of my love and respect and adoration. It’s about acknowledging I am not God, but I know God and desire to follow Him. It’s about my life not being my own, but God’s.
Dear God, help us see you. Help us to not stumble over the rules or the laws that are made in order to understand you, but truly see you. Help us to follow your lead. Help us to recognize the work you are doing and trust the goodness of it. You, GOD, are greater than any sanctuary. Amen.
Mandy Baldwin (mkaybaldwin)
Sixty-six books in a year 