ANCHOR DEVOTIONS (SEPTEMBER 31, 2012)

Messiah, Our Sabbath Rest

Leviticus 23:3;
Matthew 11:28-30



"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
(MATTHEW 11:28)

The origin of the Sabbath goes back to Creation. After creating the heavens and the earth in six days, God "rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made" (Genesis 2:2). Was God tired after all that creative work of putting together the universe? Did He need a rest? Of course not!

Sabbath is the Hebrew word Shabbat which means "to stop or cease from work." Creation was complete and God simply stopped what He was doing. Likewise, in Leviticus 23:3, God sets aside the seventh day Sabbath as one of His appointed times, a day every week when He would have a holy encounter with His people - a day when they, too, would cease from all work.

But the Sabbath rest given to Israel was, again, only a shadow. If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, then you have already "entered into" His Sabbath rest. "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God" (Hebrews 4:9).

Are you wearied and burdened? Come to Jesus - His burden is light, and only He will give you complete Sabbath rest.

INSIGHT
"REST IN GOD'S LOVE. THE ONLY WORK YOU ARE REQUIRED NOW TO DO IS TO GIVE YOUR MOST INTENSE ATTENTION TO HIS STILL, SMALL VOICE WITHIN."
(MADAME JEANNE GUYON)

Leviticus 23:3
New International Version (NIV)
The Sabbath
3 “‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.
Matthew 11:28-30
New International Version (NIV)
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”