Daily Word: Taking a Break Part 2

Mark 6:31 reads: "And Yeshua said to them, "Come aside yourselves to a lonely place and rest a little." Yesterday, we examined the different Greek words that are translated as "rest." Today, we continue to consider our rest. I have just completed my Sabbath prayers. There is a comfort and rest I receive, even if physically tired, from repeating prayers that have been spoken for hundreds if not thousands of years. I begin every Sabbath by having a time of prayer. It is my stepping away from my busy life full of responsibilities and I rest and speak to ADONAI. Two phrases struck me this morning: "Enlighten our eyes in Thy Law, and let our hearts cleave to Thy commandments." That is a cry of my heart. May my inner being hold tight to the Law of Elohim, i.e. His Torah. It is how He wants me to live and it brings honor to Yeshua who was the covenant sacrifice for the renewed covenant. Jeremiah 31 informs us that the renewed covenant will write the Torah on our hearts. If you are part of that renewed covenant, you also should love Torah because it is written on your heart. The second phrase was: "Happy is the man who hearkeneth unto Thy commandments...." To hearken is to hear and obey. In this prayer we find one way to happiness: to obey the word of ADONAI. What does obedience have to do with Yeshua's call to a time of rest? There is a Sabbath rest reserved to the followers of Yeshua. Every week, we are commanded to "keep the Sabbath." I have little doubt that Yeshua has this in mind, i.e. the concept of Sabbath, in His call to rest.

Abraham Heschel said: "The seventh day is the armistice in man's cruel struggle for existence, a truce in all conflicts, personal and social, peace between man and man, man and nature, peace with man, a day on which handling money is considered a desecration, on which a man avows his independence of that which is the world's chief idol. The seventh day is the exodus from tension." If you want to improve the quality of your life and your relationship with both Elohim and man, I encourage you to follow the words of Yeshua and come to a place of rest. Now don't think you can pick any day you want, ADONAI has taken the guesswork away; He has chosen the seventh day as your day of rest. It is His Sabbath. It is for our benefit.

Today, it is the Sabbath. Try to rest. Have a time of prayer, study of His Word, do something nice for someone, perform acts of kindness and charity. Bring honor to the words of Yeshua, come and rest.