Resting in Jesus Week 2

⁸ “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ You have six days each week for your ordinary work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

What sets Christianity apart from other religions is, oddly enough, that it isn’t really a religion at all. It’s a relationship. And not just any relationship. It’s a unique bond between humanity and an invisible, but very real and living God.

Creator with Creature

Immortal with Mortal

Holy and Perfect with Broken and Imperfect

Omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent with…

Well?

Not so much.

And because of this obvious power differential, the relational benefits lean more in humanity’s direction than in God’s. But for some reason, He still seems to delight in delighting us. In Acts 20:35, Paul tells us that Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Our joy gives Him joy.

Further, throughout the Bible, we see that being in relationship with humans is a passionate pursuit for God. So much so that He takes the lead in initiating, chasing, fighting for and sustaining it. At the same time, He also relinquishes His power He could use to force us to love Him, to instead, allow us to choose whether we want this connection. Crazy!

The God of the universe lowers Himself to being ridiculously vulnerable to the whims and instability of human beings. Like the kid who writes “Do you like me?”  along with little boxes labeled “Yes” or “No” on a wrinkled sheet of paper, He puts Himself out on a limb.

• Do you want to hang out with me?
• Do you want to hear how I feel about that?
• Do you want me to help? 
• Do you want to get to know me?
  
• Do you want to experience living life connected to me?
  
• Do you want to take a risk and see if I can really bring you the joy, satisfaction and fulfillment your soul longs for?
• Do you want me to provide out of my abundant riches not just your material needs, but also your emotional, mental, and spiritual needs?
  
• Do you want to partner with me to do good things in this world?

He has made His intentions clear. The question is ours.  

Do we want Him? 

One of the ways we check the box, “Yes” is by practicing what we call spiritual disciplines. This can seem like a strange name for what are, beautiful, rich, and satisfying experiences of deep connection and enjoyment with God. It can sound like calling date nights, obligatory business meetings. Or lunch get-togethers with a dear friend, mere duty. But behind the term “spiritual disciplines,” often misunderstood and therefore, twisted into a way of draining life, we can actually find meaningful connection points to the source of abundant life.

Here's what this looks like. If you’ve been involved in any of the three types of relationships the Bible uses as metaphors for our connection with God (1. Marriage  2. Parent/Child  3. Having a Pet - the sheep/shepherd thing), you know that from the moment they begin, they automatically change the way we live our lives. We find ourselves developing routines and behaviors that are an instinctive part of living life together and nurturing connection. 

It’s no different when we enter into a relationship with God. Both living with, and connecting with Him become a natural part of life through routines and behaviors – or spiritual disciplines like:

• Walking and talking with God (prayer and practicing the Presence of God)
• Learning about Him (studying Scripture)   
• Celebrating His relational covenant with us (taking Communion)
• Getting together with the extended family that has helped shape our relationship with Him (going to church)
• Setting aside even good things in order to focus on and strengthen our connection with Him (fasting)   
• Getting away to be alone together (practicing silence and solitude)
• And of course, going on weekly dates (Sabbath)

Through these activities, we get to grow in our experience of true intimacy with God – being able to feel at rest with Him because there is no need for pretense. 

Sadly, we can approach any of these precious moments begrudgingly in a spirit of obligation and duty. In any of our earthly relationships can you imagine saying any of the following things?                                           

“Sure, I’ll go on a date with you because it’s my duty as your husband/wife.”
“Fine, I’ll play with you and read your favorite book so others will see me as a good parent.” 
“Whatever – I guess I’ll play fetch and snuggle on the couch, so you’ll quit bothering me.”

When it comes to our relationship with God, we call practicing spiritual disciplines in this way, legalism.

God understands our relational weaknesses, limitations, and daily battles that can cause us to slip into this less-than-fulfilling pattern. Which is why He keeps passing His wrinkled-up notes to us each day.

Which box are we going to check? Will we experience all the wonderful benefits of living life in connection with Him, or just keep things professional and business-like?