A DAY OF REST

Nehemiah 10:31 “ if the peoples of the land brought wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; and we would forego the seventh year’s produce and the exacting of every debt.”

Let’s start with the first part of 10:31 - “if the peoples of the land brought wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day;”. Nehemiah is talking about being separate from the peoples of the land (the non-Israelites). The Sabbath was a day of rest and worship. No work (no buying or selling) was to be done on that day. (see Exodus 20:8 – the 4th commandment).

“Not buy stuff on Sunday? That’s not practical!” we may say. Today’s lifestyles are different than they were in Biblical times. But that doesn’t change God’s word. The Sabbath was on a Saturday back then. Today, Sunday is the Sabbath for many of us. The point is that we need a “Sabbath” – a day of rest and worship. Remember Genesis 2:1-3? God created for 6 days and rested on the 7th.

Now, let’s get back to our verse. The Israelites were not to buy on the Sabbath. Why? The Sabbath is a day to rest and worship God. If we are buying (shopping), then our focus is not on God. It is on self. God wants all of us on the Sabbath, not just a little piece. Going to church is just part of the day. What do we do with the rest of the day? Are we doing things that we didn’t have time to do the other 6 days because we were too busy working to pay for our lifestyle?

Somewhere along the line, Sunday became a “free” day. A day to do whatever we want. And worshipping God doesn’t fit in with our plans. But it could!

What does worship look like? Going to church is a good start. Dragging ourselves out of bed is putting God first and ourselves second. Once we get out of church do we stop thinking about God? Incorporate God into all aspects of your life. Maybe you have a pile of laundry to do – you just can’t rest – everyone needs clean clothes for Monday. Can you pray for each person in your family as you load their clothes into the washer? Can you have worship music playing in the background (maybe even singing along)? Can you thank God that you have a washer? Can you thank God that everyone has clothes to wear? If you have to clean the house, focus on God as you do it. Be thankful that you have a house (or apartment or room . . . ) to clean. The same thing goes for making dinner - being thankful for the food you have to eat.

Being thankful to God for all things is a form of worship. Worship takes many forms but we can start with being thankful. And when Monday morning comes and you are dragging yourself out of bed to go to work – be thankful that you have a job. Being thankful isn’t limited to Sundays.

Then there’s the “selling on the Sabbath” (working). Wait a minute! I have to work on Sundays – my job requires it. Can you pray for your co-workers, your boss, the company you work for, your customers?

What about the middle part of this verse - “and we would forego the seventh year’s produce”. (see Exodus 23:10-11) God’s original plan outlined how to have what was needed and still be able to rest. Farmers would work the land for 6 years and in the 7th year they would not farm it. They would store up the harvest to see them thru that 7th year. Whatever grew on its own would be available to the poor. The land would benefit as well as it would have time to get back the nutrients it used to grow the previous harvest.

But we are not farmers – at least most of us aren’t. Today it is not so much storing up the harvest for a year. It is more about wasting what we have. We work long hours and then are too tired to make dinner so we stop at a fast food place. We have food in the fridge that we aren’t using because we just bought a pizza. When we waste food, we are wasting money. Now we need more money so we work even harder and longer hours. It’s a vicious cycle.

God has given you the job that you have to provide for your needs. What? You say that you worked for that money – no one gave it to you? (see Deuteronomy 8:17-18, Psalm 24:1, Haggai 2:8). Who gave you that job? Who put you in the right place at the right time? Who gave you the skills and abilities that you have?

Okay, God gave me the job, but there isn’t enough money from that job to provide what I need. Why? Did you create a lifestyle that didn’t fit the paycheck? Envy & jealousy play a role here. (see Exodus 20:17 – 10th commandment). We see what someone else has and we want it. But we can’t afford it. So we buy it anyway. That creates debt. God fulfilled His promise in providing that job. We ruined it by wanting more . . . and wanting it now. When we look for fulfillment, happiness or contentment in things, it will never be enough. Take a look at your checkbook. How we spend our money shows where our heart is. God has trusted us with an abundance and He watches how we use it.

Now, the last part of 10:31 – “and the exacting of every debt.” (see Deuteronomy 15:1-6). Exacting of every debt. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be great if all our bills were erased after 7 years? No more mortgage! No more credit card debt! No more loans to pay! What would we do if that were to happen? Would we make a covenant with ourselves to never have debt again? Or would we go and make new debts since we don’t have the old ones to pay?

And now the flip side. It would be great to have our debts forgiven but are we able to forgive others that owe us? (see Matthew 6:12) At the end of 7 years all debts were canceled. What if someone owed us a lot of money? Could we cancel their debt? Reminds me of the parable of the unforgiving servant (see Matthew 18:21-35).

Who gives you breath and wakes you up in the morning? God. Only God. We all have a reason to be thankful and grateful to the one true God. And Sunday is a good day to start.

Feel like you are being taken on a guilt trip? Before you start collecting frequent flyer miles for that trip, remember this: We all make wrong choices. But we can also choose to start making the right choices.

"Okay! I admit that I am guilty of those things. But what do I do now?"  Good question! Even though we have created a lifestyle that doesn’t include rest & worship, all is not lost. We can make changes. God wants our heart and that is where we start. We put God first in our decisions. We carve out time for God. As we make small changes, it will eventually lead to bigger changes. Even though we may not be able to change our financial circumstances immediately, we can change how we handle it. Change must happen in the heart before it can happen anywhere else. God knows what we need (see Matthew 6:31-34). Do we trust Him to provide it?

Shift your focus to God and see what He can do in your life. Spending time with God is never wasted time.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture verses are from the New King James Version of the Bible.