Dear friends,

Last Sunday here at Fairwood we talked about the command of Jesus to “Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me,” telling us that we will “find rest for our souls.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Part of what we talked about during the service was applying this concept of being yoked with Jesus and learning of Him to all areas of our lives: to our work lives, our relationships, attitudes, leisure and recreation, etc. It’s clear that it should apply to every area.

So if we are yoked with Jesus, we can ask, “What would He do on the Seventh Day?” The Bible record shows that on one Sabbath, He was taking a walk with His disciples when they grabbed a little snack of some wheat kernels along the way. The confused and jealous Pharisees gave them a hard time, which led to Jesus giving them a little education about who the Sabbath was made for and how to keep it. (Mark 2:23-28)

It is also significant to notice that Jesus did not say to ignore the Sabbath. His working assumption was that the Sabbath was important, but that the religious leaders had gotten out of line in their keeping of it. I am reminded many times of the passage in Isaiah 58:13-14 that talks about calling the day a delight!  Jesus was helping His listeners get back to having a delightful day of rest. That is the result of being yoked with Jesus and learning from Him: He helps us get things back to the way He intended, and that provides true rest for our troubled souls—not only rest but delight.

And on the seventh day God finished His work which he had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Genesis 2:2-3)

He blessed that day, and if we want to receive that blessing, we can simply delight to rest and walk with Him on His day of rest, which was made for us. Let’s have a delightful Sabbath together with Jesus this week.