Monday, Monday!

     After "an early morning phone call" (it was 8:30!) concerning an upcoming ministry event, as I reluctantly rolled out of bed; I had a feeling I hadn't felt in a while. And then it hit me.
     After pastoring for over 20 years, ingrained in my being was the fact that Mondays for me, were "days off."
     Since my lay-off from the church however, Mondays have become busy work days. Days to accomplish much at the beginning of the week.
    But then something struck me, the importance of "Sabbath" rest. Don't get all weird by the word Sabbath. Check this out. In Genesis 2: 3: “God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because in it He had rested from all His work of creating and making.” Speaking of the Sabbath; God declared: “It is a sign between Me and my children for ever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed” (Exodus 31: 17).
     When Moses got the commandments the Sabbath is included and we are told to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Why? God gave this to the children of Israel after they had been released from their bondage. They had worked in slavery over 400 years with no days off, the Lord was giving them a blessing, a day as a gift in which they could rest.
     To remember the Sabbath means to distinguish it from the other days of the week. And in our rest as we honor God and make it holy, we too will recieve refreshment and blessing!