Eager to Please
Opening Prayer
When you pray, ask God to simply reveal more of himself to you as you read his Word today.
Read Mark 2:23-28
[23] One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. [24] The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” [25] He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? [26] In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” [27] Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. [28] So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
What did Jesus teach about the Sabbath here?If we’re honest, we all find it difficult to understand what God requires of us. We know that God is great, powerful and holy. We hope that we can please him. We’re so different from the Pharisees. They knew God was holy and awesome, and they were eager to please him. However, they did what is so tempting for us all: they tried to please God with their own efforts. The Sabbath was given to humanity by God as a day of rest and peace. It reminds us that the world doesn’t revolve around us and that if we stop, things won’t fall apart. It affirms our human need for rest and play. The Pharisees had turned this blessing into a set of rules that squeezed all the fun out of it. In their anxiety about pleasing God, they forgot that God gave Sabbath rest to humanity for our good. Jesus delivers us from our striving, putting Sabbath into perspective. It’s not a way to gain favor with God, but a gift reminding us of God’s care and all-sufficiency. It shouldn’t be about what we do or don’t do, but about what God has done, enabling us to stop and rest.
Apply
How does your practice of Sabbath measure up to God’s intent? Repent, if necessary, and receive God’s gift of rest.
Closing prayer
Good God, help me to understand and receive the blessings that You have intended for me through the gift of the Sabbath.
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