"For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men..." Titus 2:11
“Come unto Me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lovely of heart and you will find rest for your souls.” The words of Jesus as recorded by Matthew.
One winter several years ago I was caught in the worst snow storm that New York City has ever witnessed. All day long I could do nothing except watch the constant news reports about the tremendous blizzard that was dumping foot after foot of snow on the city. New York fought a good fight but around mid-morning it was apparent that the city had lost the battle of business as usual, so the mayor closed the city down. Streets were closed to traffic. Kids were sent home from schools. Stores shut their doors and sent employees into the elements. Only the necessary happened.
An amazing thing took place. People began to talk to one another. They stopped on the street and conversed. Neighbors who never spoke were laughing together and playing in the snow. Hard-bit New York became neighborly all because of a snow storm. Forced to slow down and stop, the city lost it’s identity of unfriendliness and danger and became “small town” for a day.
Amazing.
No telling what would happen if the city decided to do that on it’s own. Shutting down for a day each week might just change the personality all week long. Maybe God knew what He was doing when He commanded us to do the same.
Jesus said, “Come unto Me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” It is an invitation to participate in the Sabbath rest of the Lord. Too many people wait until a storm forces a Sabbath shut-down before they respond. Don’t get caught like that.
Take your Sabbath. It’s the one sure way that Jesus teaches us to rest.
