Hungry for God: He Knows What We Need

“And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.’”—Mark 2:27-28

God knows us better than we know ourselves—after all, He made us. He made us in all of our complexities, attitudes, emotions, dreams, aspirations, pains, problems, joys, jubilations, and needs. He created us with needs to eat, drink, seek companionship, shelter, etc. He knows that we need rest, which is why He created a day of rest.

During the first seven days of this world’s existence, God took the last day, after He had finished making everything that would be, to rest. Not that God needed rest, He didn’t, but He was setting the standard that we were to follow. Made in His image, Adam was following what He saw God doing. Therefore, the seventh day was set apart as holy.

The observance of the Sabbath, as it came to be called, was one of the hallmarks of being a Jew. Along with circumcision, observing the Sabbath clearly set apart one from the rest, clearly indicating one was Jewish. But Sabbath observance, much like everything else in creation, was distorted during the Fall with various religious leaders offering their two cents into what proper Sabbath observance looked like. And by Jesus’ day it was out of control; leaders had set up guidelines for everything that could be done on the Sabbath—how far one could walk, how much one could carry, etc. Jesus’ words restored the original intent of the Sabbath: it was not meant to make one miserable, but to give time for rest, worship, and refreshment.

God did not mean the Sabbath to be a burden, but a blessing. He knows what we need and speaks His Word into our life as a means of blessing us. His Word is for our benefit, for through it we know what God desires from us and for us.

Do you realize that God wants to bless you? Take the time to rest this coming Sabbath. Let Him be your source of refreshment, your spa for the soul in the midst of the chaotic culture in which we live. Amen.