November 2

Ezekiel 3:16-6:14, Hebrews 4:1-16, Psalm 104:24-35, Proverbs 26:27

Pray: The Psalmist celebrates that it is the breath of God that gives life and also renews His creation. The breath of God placed a soul into the man He had created in the dirt and so the breath of God can renew that soul that He gave life to. Get quiet and ask God to breath renewal into your life and soul.

Read: Acknowledge and press through how difficult the reading from Ezekiel is today. Then contrast the coming devastation of Babylon with the hope of the “promised rest” in the New Testament reading.

Edify: It’s easy to see how oppressive Sabbath laws had become in New Testament times and to “throw out the baby with the bathwater.” As Jesus says in Mark 2, the Sabbath was made as a gift for man and not for man to slave and serve the Sabbath. God wants us to enter into His delight and rest, first seen in the seventh day when God rested. In all of the war, and working for survival, and striving; God invites us into His redeeming of time and to rest. And the deepest and fullest rest we can find is accepting the work of our High Priest Jesus by faith and entering into the rest of knowing that we are friends of God. The Gospel of Jesus unlocks the rest that God has prepared for us since the beginning, so our hearts can finally be at rest.

Practice: Would you describe your thought life, your schedule, your emotional health, and your relationships as “at rest”? If not, what fear, insecurities, or unbelief is holding your heart back from entering into God’s rest? Ask God to reveal your restlessness. Then take one tangible act of faith this week and take a day of Sabbath with nothing scheduled on the calendar except that which you know is life giving to your soul. Trust Him with your time and believe that He’ll redeem the other 6 days.