Luke 14
The Rest of God!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Saturday, May 23.
It’s Memorial Day Weekend, so, let’s talk about rest…
Luke 14 starts with Jesus in the home of a prominent Pharisee, surrounded by experts in the Law, but there is also a man there who is suffering from dropsy. While it is against the religious rules of the day to do any work on the Sabbath, Jesus asks a question in Luke 14:3 that strikes to the heart of why He came: “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” As they stare at Jesus blankly, He takes hold of the man and heals him and then asks the experts in Luke 14:5, “If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?”
Jesus came on a rescue mission to pull people out of the effects of the Fall, to bring people Home to His Father, to usher in the rule of God. Actually, Jesus was not rebelling against the sabbath itself, He was actively reforming the Sabbath back to God’s original intent. He was demonstrating the Kingdom of God where it is done on earth as it is in Heaven. The heart of God’s rest is the proclamation of God’s rescue from slavery!
When you rest in God you are free from the tyranny of the urgent and you are doing the most important thing! When you rest in God you are pointing back to the 7th Day when God ceased from His work to give creation His delight. When you rest in God you are pointing towards the Day of the fullness of God’s perfect rule once again: to the New Heaven and New Earth.
Seize the moment and rest! Will you prioritize time this Memorial Day weekend to enter into the rest of God?
If you need a more personal touch from your church than this daily phone call, please dial the phone number below and someone will call you today. We are praying for you!