Do You Have It Backwards?

Friday, October 14

Do You Have It Backwards?
By: Pastor Todd Crofford

Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
-Mark 2:27 NIV

Sometimes early in the morning when I am getting into my gym clothes with little light I get my shirt on backward. 

I hate that feeling- and it feels like SO much effort to have to flip it around early in the morning. 

Uggh!  
But you have to, right?  
Because when you get things backward, it’s never going to go quite right.

In our text today, Jesus is telling the Pharisees, “You have got the Sabbath thing exactly backward!”  You think that God had this great idea for a law, so He insists men to live by the command. 

As a result, the Pharisees created a whole bunch of “mini-laws” that made obeying the Sabbath just one more exhausting burden.  

So Jesus said “Stop! That is the exact opposite of God’s Sabbath intent!” 

God designed Sabbath because God designed us.  
In his wisdom he knows we need to decompress, we need to slow down, we need to rest.  Sabbath is a chance for you to do that.

We aren’t going to break out into an argument today about which day that should be, or exactly how it should look for each of us.  

Here is what I will say.  

If you refuse to slow down a day a week, you are not only leaving God’s law behind, you are leaving his wisdom behind. 

For your good- let me say that again- for your good, God created Sabbath. If you keep pushing seven days a week and put in no rhythm of rest you will break down, and you will have no one to blame but yourself.  

So, don’t see God’s insistence upon Sabbath as a burden, see it as a blessing. 

Will you receive it- or just live backward?