Hebrews
4:9-11 (NIV)
9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10
for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as
God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter
that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
It happened a few days ago in my oldest
daughter's home. She is now the mother of two children, Josiah, age almost two
and Elianna, almost three months. Megan, the mom, was writing out her "To
Do" list and her son Josiah was writing out his as well. After Megan
finished the list she asked her son, Josiah if she had left out anything.
Josiah, in the wisdom that could have only
come from the grandfather, said, "Play, mommy. Play." Being the good
mother that she is, she quickly tossed aside her to do list and played.
Since today is Labor day I thought I would
take some time out from the regular devotionals and just say the same thing to
you. Put aside your "to do" list and go out and play. That's right
you heard this preacher correctly, Go out and play, celebrate God's goodness,
leap and dance and shout aloud for the joy of the Lord. If you cannot dance
then take up lessons. If you cannot leap then spin around in your wheel chair.
If you cannot sing for joy a good hearty shout will suffice. However you do it
rejoice in his rest that he has provided for us. We no longer have to work for
his affection, Jesus our Lord has already accomplished it all, so play.
I know this is hard because we all live in a
work oriented world where we are measured by how much we produce, but just for
today why not let the truth of the gospel settle in your heart and cause you to
see that God commands you to rest and to celebrate. So go ahead and head for
the fair, go for a walk in the woods, order out ice cream and enjoy the taste
of a nice cold blizzard at Dairy Queen.
See you at the fair with my ice cream cone on
the Ferris wheel.
Pastor Phil