Deuteronomy  5:15

 “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day”

Context:

Rest means different things at different times in our lives. For a college student, a mother of young kids, an underemployed person, or a retiree, rest may look quite different. Here in Deuteronomy, the commandment to keep the Sabbath is repeated, but it is different from Exodus 20: 8-11 where the rationale is creation. But here in Deuteronomy, about 40 years’ later, God’s people are at a watershed moment. Poised to enter the Promised Land, they are at a transition point. The rationale for Sabbath is the Exodus. Israel was not to be enslaved to anyone, anything, any activity in the Promised Land except the Lord. They had been released from Egyptian slavery in order to live a new type of life with the Lord.

Questions for reflection:

  1. What have you been enslaved to in your life?
  2. What has the Lord delivered you from in your life with his mighty hand?
  3. How might you rest this week from striving in your career, fretting over your relationships, obsessing over your appearance?
  4. If Jesus has set you free, how much rest and freedom are you currently enjoying?

 

Prayer Pointers:

  • Ask the Lord to show you what good things in your life you have elevated to an ultimate position: things like comfort, approval, security, pleasure…
  • Ask the Lord to liberate you from habits, ways of thinking, or desires that diminish you rather than free you to live as an adopted child of your Father in heaven