Read Genesis 2 NIV - Thus the heavens and the earth were - Bible Gateway

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

 

Read Exodus 16 NLT - Manna and Quail from Heaven - Then the - Bible Gateway

21 After this the people gathered the food morning by morning, each family according to its need. And as the sun became hot, the flakes they had not picked up melted and disappeared. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much as usual—four quarts[e] for each person instead of two. Then all the leaders of the community came and asked Moses for an explanation. 23 He told them, “This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the Lord. So bake or boil as much as you want today, and set aside what is left for tomorrow.”

24 So they put some aside until morning, just as Moses had commanded. And in the morning the leftover food was wholesome and good, without maggots or odor. 25 Moses said, “Eat this food today, for today is a Sabbath day dedicated to the Lord. There will be no food on the ground today. 26 You may gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. There will be no food on the ground that day.”

27 Some of the people went out anyway on the seventh day, but they found no food. 28 The Lord asked Moses, “How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions? 29 They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you. That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not go out to pick up food on the seventh day.” 30 So the people did not gather any food on the seventh day.

Message Notes

I felt like God leaned towards me and said are you ready to deal with me now? Rather than dealing with the obvious reality in front of me I was just distracting myself.

I was so of consumed with so many of my responsibilities and ministry and so consumed with some things that really in the longevity of things are not particularly important and I was letting my body fill up with stress and tighten up over things that are really irrelevant. And so God and His mercy had to put me down in order to give me perspective, he had to stop me to help me get on the right path; he had to add to my life by subtracting, which is what God likes to do, and so he put me down to give me perspective.

If you look around in the culture today, what's happening, we live in relatively the safest time for young people to grow up. And yet there are higher levels of anxiety reported among young people than at any time in recorded history.  There's something about modern life that is not conducive to human flourishing. Our rapid pace is not leading to restoration of our souls; there's something wrong with the rhythms of our life and it's hurting us.

We're like a boat that as it goes faster and faster, at some point it starts to pop on the water and then flips over and throws everybody out. 

Speed is the enemy of depth and what we're lacking today is deep people, because we don't know how to slow down see and so that's why you go “well then, what do we do?”

If you want to know how to use a creation you look to its creator.  God wove Sabbath into the rhythm of creation. 

Efficiency requires periodic maintenance.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you keep a Sabbath day/a day of rest?

  2. Do you ever feel like you get caught up in the busyness of life, that you forget to rest?

  3. Have you ever been forced to rest by an unforeseen event?

  4. How would your life be different if you scheduled rest like you schedule other to-do list items?

  5. What is a change that you can make now to build rest into your week?

  6. What does rest look like for you?

  7. What is your biggest take away?

Further Study:

Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFTLvkB3JLM  (Sabbath – Bible Project)

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