Today's "Moment With Mark" (36) Freedom
18 December, 2012
"The Sabbath was made to benefit people, and not people to benefit the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27-28 NLT)
Over the many years I have been a Pastor, I have never ceased to wonder about how skilled we are to take a principle of Scripture that was designed to facilitate freedom and turn it into a regulation that promotes slavery.
Jesus was fielding a question about Sabbath-breaking when He made this observation. It is obvious that what was originally intended was this: the Law was to serve us and existed for our benefit. It was to enlighten us, to alert us to the heart of God for us and to guide us so that we could be free to fulfil its requirements.
Over the centuries the human heart gradually inverted the Law so that, instead of the Law serving us, we now served it. However, Jesus came to reverse this inversion. What do we do on the 'Sabbath'? I belong to the generation of Christian "Sabbath-Keepers". We were not permitted to swim, for example. We were taught (and believed) that this was a sign of our devotion to God. In many ways we became bound to serve the Sabbath regulations.But the Sabbath was made for our re-creation and its purpose was to serve us. I would urge you to undertake those activities (as well as rest) that re-create us. This issue is all about freedom from legalism