It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your steadfast love in the morning, and Your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and harp, to the melody of the lyre. For You, O Lord, have made me glad by Your work. At the works of Your hands, I sing for joy. (Verses 1-4)
This is a song for the Sabbath. For resting from labors. It's good to set aside time to look up instead of looking around at all there is still to be accomplished. On a deeper level, the Sabbath rest for Christians is resting from all our "works" by trusting in Christ. The New Testament book of Hebrews describes it this way: There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest (Hebrews 4).
Striving today to be a good Christian? To do all the right things so your God will love you? Are you reading the Bible as a rule book? As a road map to righteousness instead of a love letter? Feeling the pressure of your sins? Powerless to control your addictions? Hear is what the Father would say to you: "Cease striving, be still. Know that I am God (Psalm 46:10)." In our own strength, we will never be good enough. Unless we're perfect. Which isn't possible. So we're not. Isaiah declares our good works are simply filthy rags. That's why we need a Savior. To clean us up. From the inside out, not from the outside in. If the Bible is just a rule book when we read it, we've missed the whole point. The rule book was thrown out with the Old Covenant. The New Covenant, signed with the blood of Christ, says we are made right, given rest from our filthy rags, by the death of the only perfect One Who has ever lived. When Jesus declared "It is finished!" that's what He meant. The work of our salvation was done for now and for eternity. We don't have to keep trying like a hamster on a wheel to get somewhere on our own steam. We can now rest in the fact that we are accepted in the Beloved because Christ ever lives to mediate for us with the Father. We can breathe a sigh of eternal relief.
Of course, finally our rest is forever in heaven. But God wants us to live in the Sabbath here in terms of our need to work for His love and approval. Jesus brought us into family when He died and rose again. We are now direct recipients, if we love Christ, of the everlasting joy of being in the presence of God. And it starts now! Relationship replaces rules. Of course, this involves discipline and doing the right thing. But not so much out of fear, but out of reverence and love for the Father Who adopted us out of darkness into His marvelous light. That is the joy in our obedience. Our rest is in God's goodness and love. As He rested from His works on the seventh day, we rest from ours in Christ today and forever.
It's no wonder we can arise in the morning and declare with great relief that God's love is steady and faithful! It makes me want to dance even now to bask in the glow of favor, undeserved but dearly paid for. His work on the cross bathes me in grace and mercy! In travail Jesus bought my ease, paid my debt, set me free and bound me in love to Him forever! Sing for joy, O heart of mine, for all my filthy rags are white as snow. Dance, O feet, to the chorus of angelic choirs as they never cease to praise the Lamb Who sits on the throne, resting from a finished work that bought my life an eternal Sabbath!
This is a song for the Sabbath. For resting from labors. It's good to set aside time to look up instead of looking around at all there is still to be accomplished. On a deeper level, the Sabbath rest for Christians is resting from all our "works" by trusting in Christ. The New Testament book of Hebrews describes it this way: There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest (Hebrews 4).
Striving today to be a good Christian? To do all the right things so your God will love you? Are you reading the Bible as a rule book? As a road map to righteousness instead of a love letter? Feeling the pressure of your sins? Powerless to control your addictions? Hear is what the Father would say to you: "Cease striving, be still. Know that I am God (Psalm 46:10)." In our own strength, we will never be good enough. Unless we're perfect. Which isn't possible. So we're not. Isaiah declares our good works are simply filthy rags. That's why we need a Savior. To clean us up. From the inside out, not from the outside in. If the Bible is just a rule book when we read it, we've missed the whole point. The rule book was thrown out with the Old Covenant. The New Covenant, signed with the blood of Christ, says we are made right, given rest from our filthy rags, by the death of the only perfect One Who has ever lived. When Jesus declared "It is finished!" that's what He meant. The work of our salvation was done for now and for eternity. We don't have to keep trying like a hamster on a wheel to get somewhere on our own steam. We can now rest in the fact that we are accepted in the Beloved because Christ ever lives to mediate for us with the Father. We can breathe a sigh of eternal relief.
Of course, finally our rest is forever in heaven. But God wants us to live in the Sabbath here in terms of our need to work for His love and approval. Jesus brought us into family when He died and rose again. We are now direct recipients, if we love Christ, of the everlasting joy of being in the presence of God. And it starts now! Relationship replaces rules. Of course, this involves discipline and doing the right thing. But not so much out of fear, but out of reverence and love for the Father Who adopted us out of darkness into His marvelous light. That is the joy in our obedience. Our rest is in God's goodness and love. As He rested from His works on the seventh day, we rest from ours in Christ today and forever.
It's no wonder we can arise in the morning and declare with great relief that God's love is steady and faithful! It makes me want to dance even now to bask in the glow of favor, undeserved but dearly paid for. His work on the cross bathes me in grace and mercy! In travail Jesus bought my ease, paid my debt, set me free and bound me in love to Him forever! Sing for joy, O heart of mine, for all my filthy rags are white as snow. Dance, O feet, to the chorus of angelic choirs as they never cease to praise the Lamb Who sits on the throne, resting from a finished work that bought my life an eternal Sabbath!
No comments:
Post a Comment