The Sabbath can be an interesting thing:  how a body can be at rest but a mind anything but restful. 

Can it legitimately be called a Sabbath if your mind is working overtime? 

Don’t ask me.  I am a thinker and a planner.  My mind weighs alternatives and builds cases.  I even do it in my sleep. There’s nothing wrong with planning, but there is something very wrong with a heart and mind that never rest, as a ship always sailing no matter the conditions … and never finding a port … anywhere.  A ship forever at sea is a craft in grave danger of becoming its own worst enemy.  A shipwreck waiting to happen.

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There’s a difference between a marathon runner muscling through the tough stretch to get a second wind and a person unwilling to rest.  I’m constantly aware of the danger when planner refuses to rest or to submit plans to God as a Sabbath.  A person can end up loving the work and loving the creative planning more than loving the Creator.  Loving the ministry more than the Savior.  It’s a common tale, but it doesn’t need to be that way.

Luke 12: 15 Jesus said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”‘ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Ouch.  Odd to think that refusing a Sabbath is much like greed.  It’s not giving God what belongs to Him.  The Sabbath is His.  But the kicker is: He gave it for our benefit.  God reminds us in Proverbs 19: 21 Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.

The Simple Truth is that submitting our plans to God is to honor His Sabbath.  It glorifies Him as the Creator of your body and your intellect.  

Is it too much to rest from the planning one day a week to check in with the Creator and avoid shipwrecking your faith or sailing headlong into the storm? No, and it’s not too late to thank Him for the work He alone can do and to always plan with God in mind.

How is it possible that something so simple as waiting and resting can become so complicated?  Is it just me, or a Type-A American phenomenon?  Or maybe it’s human nature to complicate something as easy as rest?  Jesus sets things simple and straight.

He’s Lord of the Sabbath

Mark 2: 23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

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The Pharisees couldn’t stand it that manmade rules were being shunted off to the side as Jesus asserted His authority. 

Before I come down too hard on the Pharisees, do I do this too? 

• How many times on a Sunday do I ask myself whether it’s right, proper, or biblical to shop at a garden center, grocery store, or even go to a restaurant or a gas station? 
• After all, doesn’t my patronage violate someone else’s Sabbath adherence? 
• What about people who celebrate the Sabbath on a Saturday? 
• Am I just justifying my desire to shop by asserting that not everyone is Christian or observes the same day? 
• When I was employed at a garden center, I asked for Sunday morning to be able to worship but after church, there I was, working my tail off the rest of the Sabbath, yes?  
• What about when I was a pastor?  Didn’t I work then?  Sure I did, just like other pastors, I was working on Sunday. 

A Sabbath can still be a resting time even if not a prescribed day on a calendar.

For practical purposes, the Blue Laws (prohibiting business on Sundays) may have disappeared from many locales for everything except alcohol and cars, but they are alive and well in my heart.  And I’m not the only one.  Some stores deliberately close on Sundays to prevent that very problem:  Hobby Lobby, Chick-fil-A, and many other small businesses. 

With the secularizing of America, Blue Laws are a thing of the past.   As I struggle to rest—even on a Sunday—I remind myself of this Simple Truth:  He is Lord of the Sabbath.

All this thinking about drifting and stillness and considering it with the requirement to have a Sabbath made me process my thoughts via analogy.  I’m in a sailboat.  My sail is up but the wind is so light, it’s almost imperceptible. 

“Becalmed” is the term sailors use for this. Don’t you love that?  Becalmed. 

Be Calmed.

Blogger, businessman, former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers Michael Hyatt describes this situation:  “Maybe there’s no wind on the water, or it’s blocked by land. Whatever the reason, our sails are slack and our boat just drifts along.”

(Aaiieeee!  Don’t say that.  I don’t want to drift!!!) 

Hyatt continues “I don’t know of any way to entirely avoid slow periods like this, but I do know the one thing we should avoid when we get discouraged waiting for the wind. Don’t take down your sails.”

Waiting on the wind is an act of trust. 

Ah, this is why I rest.  Because I need to trust God all the time not just when I write and work.  I need to trust God with my resting.

In Sea Shanties, Scurvy, and a Sailboat Regatta Without Wind, Captain Craig Forrest says, “When there’s almost no wind, everything that we do on the boat makes a difference.”  

A sailboat without wind is at the mercy of the currents. 

(I cannot control the currents.)

It occurred to me that I have three tools to keep me from drifting far away: a rudder, a compass, and of course, a paddle.  Of these three, the compass belongs to God alone…who incidentally also controls the wind and the currents.  I can know where I am in relation to Him by which direction I’m going.  I cannot change the compass which is grounded in forces beyond my control.  The compass does not steer the sailboat anyway.  That job belongs to the rudder.  The rudder’s ability to change my direction works in conjunction with whatever wind exists to guide the sailboat.  So long as God controls the currents and Jesus guides using the rudder, no matter how light the wind, I’m not drifting away.  Because He’s also the compass.  I can trust Him to guide me to Himself.  And the wind of the Holy Spirit works with the Father and the Son.

Mark 4:39 “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 Jesus said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

I sit silently and remind myself that God gives this kind of rest when I’ve completed a task that took a lot out of me, when I’ve done all I can and the results are up to Him, or when I’m being prepared for a big task ahead.  I can wait on the wind.  I should trust Him. 

Why?  Because there’s always that paddle—downright dangerous when unguided.  It’s the paddle allowing me to take matters into my own hands.  I can give up on resting and instead work hard at paddling for power when I don’t trust the wind to show up.  I paddle for control of the direction I want to go when I want to ignore the compass or try to override the rudder. 

What about you?  Are you as familiar with the compass and the rudder as you are with the paddle?  Do you know what it is like to be waiting on the wind?

The pastor at the church I attend on holiday stated emphatically that no one ever drifts toward God, but we can find ourselves having drifted far away from Him.  Doesn’t the letter to the Hebrews warn us time and again against drifting away? (Hebrews 2:1, Hebrews 3:7-19, Hebrews 5:2-6:6, Hebrews 10:19-31.)

We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. (Hebrews 2:1)

It’s not just listening, or even listening carefully.  It’s also believing.

But there’s another warning from Hebrews 4:1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

And in James 2, isn’t there an admonition to add to our faith, deeds borne of love for God and compassion for our fellow man?

James 2:16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that– and shudder … 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

How many of us resist resting, instead running forever exhausted on the hamster wheel of hearing, believing, and doing?

To that flurry of activity in faith, God reminds us of a Simple Truth He gave us to believe in:  Hebrews 4: 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.

We don’t want to drift.  We don’t want to be Running Forever Exhausted or getting burned out by everything on the docket.  We want to be anchored.  We need to dock it.

Hebrews 4:11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following [the wilderness wanderers from Egypt’s] example of disobedience.

A Sabbath-rest is necessary to separate the “GOD-things” from the GOOD things.

Back to the subject of drifting versus stillness:  I don’t want to drift, that’s for sure!  I’m not sure that drifting is my bigger problem.  My problem is that I fear drifting so much that I am addicted to busyness (which in turn becomes my operating definition of success: how much I accomplish for the Kingdom). 

Rest is harder work than working sometimes.

I say I desire stillness before the Lord.  But the truth is, it scares me silly.  For every Christian who has ever experienced true stillness, it can bring about the same kind of discomfort that silence does.  Maybe that was Martha’s problem too.  It was far easier to work hard than do the hard, hard work of rest.

Luke 10: 38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I’d probably be quicker to blame Martha for busyness saying, “Come’on.  Jesus is there!  Can’t you at least sit and listen to Him???” except that Jesus is there!  Time to give Him your very best. 

It can be discomforting to set aside your very best in service to the King (what you want to do for Him) …and instead do the hard, hard work of rest, to listen to Him, and learn from Him.

It must have been difficult to hear Jesus say that what Mary had chosen to do (rest and listen) was better than your offering Him your best as an unbridled act of lavish graciousness.  I’m sure the tone of Jesus’ voice was not a condemning one, but the wise voice of One who understood what would profit Martha more.  He needed her to focus on seeing that He was setting the example by sacrificing His BEING served in order to serve those He loved (Mark 10:45). 

It was a valuable lesson shown demonstrably in Martha’s home before visible to all on the Cross, a useful lesson for understanding His fullest ministry.  And for now, it was far more important to learn what He was doing which would provide the backdrop for what He would commission all His disciples to do (go to work hard for Christ) after His death.  Rest, Martha.  Listen … and learn.  The work will still be there tomorrow.

The Simple Truth is that “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)  Even the hard, hard work of rest.

What is the difference between stillness and drifting?

I was thinking about that when the pastor at the church I visit when I’m on holiday was preaching about making one’s life “drift-proof.”  He spoke of reliable anchors of the family of God, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the powerful written Word of God.  Mentally, I checked, “Got that, got that, got that” and wondered quietly as my mind drifted,

Why do I not like how this feels?  Shouldn’t being anchored give only a sense of security and rest?  Why does it seem like I’m just not making any progress?  Why do I end up feeling restless, itching to get going?” 

Have you ever felt that way?  Nothing seems to be happening.  You remind yourself that you’re supposed to be resting, but then you’re pondering the fine line between being anchored and simply being stuck.

You’re anchored because even sailboats have an anchor in order for the crew to rest.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m grateful for the time away from intensity.  After Lent each year, I intentionally rest.  It’s particularly important when Lent follows Advent so quickly.  I need to be filled again which I have learned only comes through rest.  This time has been a desperately needed Sabbath yet a very hard rest because it feels like being stuck.  It’s been a long rest because God is making up for my not resting well, a quality Sabbath, by increasing the duration required. 

My mind was called back from my drifting thoughts to the pastor’s sermon and what an anchor does.

Hebrews 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.

The Anchor of Hope enters that inner sanctuary where Jesus performed His priestly work until…what did our high priest Jesus do? 

Hebrews 8:1 The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven.”

He sat down. 

The work was done and now He’s resting with an active rest.

Then it hit me:  I’m supposed to feel “stuck” because keeping one firm and secure is what an anchor does.  My hope in Christ and in His finished work enters the sanctuary while I’m physically resting and acknowledging this Simple Truth:  An Anchored Soul Does Not Drift.

Rule Number 1: Don’t test Jesus.  You’ll look like a dope, get an answer you don’t want, and it’ll be something you can’t achieve apart from Him. 

Expert is … as expert does … as one expert finds out when he decides to test Jesus.

Luke 10:25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”

(You can almost see the elementary school hands waving madly in the air and hear young voices saying “Oh, oh, oh!  Call on me, Teacher!”) 

27 He answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”

(Teacher’s pet.)

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself,

(Don’t go there….)

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

(Uh-oh, buddy.  See what you’ve done? You’ve just unleashed a parable.  But it’s a good one.)

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

(Pop quiz)

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Expert is … as expert does.

What do you have to do to inherit eternal life?  Jesus says to love God and rise to the higher standard and definition of neighbor: instead of selfish apathy towards others or judging them and walking on by, have mercy on them.

Yet how many of us walk on by our hurting or vulnerable neighbors because we’re too busy, don’t really care, don’t want to get involved, don’t want to stand out by standing up for the truth, or be judged for it?  The expert in the law testing Jesus couldn’t bring himself to choke out the words “the Samaritan.”  So, he said “the one who had mercy.”  The truth is the Samaritan had mercy in his heart and action in his hands. 

Good intentions might make us feel better but they are not a substitute for truth or action.  Who in your life could use an advocate, a champion of mercy and truth? 

Love your neighbor as yourself.  It’s a simple truth of Scripture.

On this Easter 2018, let’s acknowledge this Simple Truth of Scripture: 

Jesus is Risen. 

Luke 24:1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them,

 “Why do you look for the living among the dead?

6 He is not here; he has risen!

Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” 8 Then they remembered his words.

This Simple Truth makes all the difference in the world. 

• The grave could not hold Him.  In Him, it cannot hold you back either. 
• Death is a defeated enemy and the battle is won.  Jesus Christ is victorious and won the battle against death, a victory won for you and won for me, too. 
• Sin’s curse and the wages of sin and death have been paid in full. 
• In Christ, we are forgiven.  In Him, we are free indeed!  In Him, we no longer need to be slaves to sin or fear death. 
• In Christ and Christ alone, we have hope…hope of a resurrection, of an eternity in the presence of God, of strength for today and reward set in heaven for our perseverance in faith. 

We have confidence that what He said is Simple Truth: 

John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

It’s Holy Saturday and Jesus is dead and buried.  Have you ever wondered why Jesus had to die to conquer death?  After all, He’s God and nothing is impossible for Him.

I don’t really have an answer, nor do I feel like many words will do it justice.  I have to simply trust that God–all wise, all powerful, all loving, all gracious, all resourceful, all creative, all capable—would have chosen another way had it been more effective and just as God-honoring.  Even Jesus had asked in deepest prayer, Matthew 26:39 “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Why Did Jesus Have to Die to Conquer Death? Because death was the enemy; and the Cross and the grave were the battleground.     

Food for thought:

On this Holy Saturday, Jesus’ cold, dead body is in the grave.  Let that sink in.

Meditate on Peter’s speech in Acts 2:25 David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’ 29 “Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.

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This concludes the Lent 2018 devotional series, Pi and Chi: Asking and Answering Questions Why .  If you’re on my email list, you’ll continue to receive periodic devotionals and random gardening posts from me.  Thank you for being with me during Lent.  Do have a blessed Easter tomorrow.  As always, I appreciate your feedback and your encouragement, both here and on Facebook.  I am your servant.  To God be the glory.  Barbara

Good Friday is hard to explain.  To those outside the family of faith, it just doesn’t compute that a God of love would have His Son die at the hands of those He was dying to save.  Add on top of that the sheer bloody nature of the whole Crucifixion event and frankly, it’s easy to see why people wouldn’t want to think about it.

Beyond the easy answer “to fulfill Scripture” (which is, in fact, a good answer) maybe deeper thought reveals another answer to the question, “Why is That Whole Thing So Gorey?”  It would be so much easier to explain and teach if Jesus had marched into Jerusalem, stripped to His skivvies, and just told the Romans to crucify Him.  He could have told people to mock and insult Him.  And while it would still be bloody and insulting, it wouldn’t be nearly as graphic as the events leading up to the Cross.

Why is That Whole Thing So Gorey?  Because it shows us what God thinks of sin.

• To the man in ISIS who beheads foreign captives, Jesus says, “I suffered and died for that.” 
• To the woman who is a porn star and parades her sin life all over tabloid TV that used to be called news, Jesus says, “I suffered and died for that, too.” 
• To the girl who brazenly marches in the women’s march who has aborted babies 3 times as birth control with no remorse whatsoever, Jesus says, “I suffered and died for that.” 
• To the white man with racist rants on social media, Jesus says, “I suffered and died for that, too.” 

To the abortionist, the bomber, the shooter, the drug pusher, and the pimp…the Crucifixion is what God holds up as His answer to your sin. 

No sin is so great, no possession by any Legion of demons, no horror committed can separate us from the love of God if we’ll only come to Him, repent, confess His lordship, and receive His forgiveness.

That is the reason we do not understand “Good Friday.”  To us, it’s graphic and bloody and gross.  To God, it’s a price-tag displaying for the world to see, the cost of sin—both the big and bloody and the little white lies no one knows but us.

So the next time you read an account of the Crucifixion and you’re bothered by all the suffering and blood, just remember this is the cost of sin. ( Matthew 27:11-44 ; Mark 15:1-32 ; Luke 23:8-38 ;  John 19:1-22 ) 

John 19: 10 Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” 12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, … “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. 16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 Here they crucified him, and with him two others– one on each side and Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Food for thought: 

• In the Life of Pi that we’ve been using to launch our 40 questions Why, the vegetarian Pi is hungry and as he watches the empty banana net swirling in the water, he gets an idea.  “One of the dorados gets very close to the net – Pi realizes his opportunity. He hauls in the netting and wrestles the dorado onto the raft… Pi grabs a hatchet from the raft and strikes the fish over and over again. As the fish begins to die, it flashes all kinds of colors in rapid succession – blue, green, red, gold and violet flicker and shimmer neon-like on its surface. Pi starts back, watching this colorful display in terrified wonder. Finally, the fish ebbs to grey, lifeless. ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’”
• On Holy Week, Good Friday is probably the holiest of days.  Do you see the price tag visible?  Do you know the cost of sin?

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For Lent 2018, we’ve been exploring the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We’ve asked and answered questions “Why?” and  have been reminding ourselves about the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice.  The period of Lent ends shortly, but you can revisit any of these devotionals through the archives ( which began February 14, 2018) and you can enjoy the next series “Simple Truths” by liking Seminary Gal on Facebook or having these devotionals sent to your email box which you can do via the sign-up on my Home page.  Thank you for blessing me with this opportunity to study together the Word of God.

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Acknowledging that former years’ devotional series remain popular:

1. Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
2.  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
3. Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
4. ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
5. Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.