Nurture – to care for and encourage the growth or development of
Soul – (psuché) – the breath of life, the center of our feelings, desires, affections, aversions
Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
Ecclesiastes 1:8
All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
- Our desire is infinite because we are meant to live with an infinite God. The only way we can rightfully manage the restlessness of our infinite unmet desires is to put them back where they belong – on God.
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” – St. Augustine of Hippo
Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Sabbath – (Shabbat) – to cease, rest, celebrate
Genesis 2:2 (ESV)
And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested . . .
1. The Sabbath is a GIFT.
Mark 2:27
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
2. We NEED the Sabbath.
“People who keep Sabbath live all seven days differently.”
– Walter Brueggemann
Hebrews 4:9-11
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
3. The Sabbath is HOLY.
Genesis 2:3 (ESV)
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Exodus 20:8
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
How to observe the Sabbath when it seems impossible:
1. Pray
Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
2. Prioritize
Luke 12:34
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
3. Plan
Proverbs 21:5 (ESV)
The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.
Questions:
- What did you hear from the Holy Spirit?
- What will you do because of it?
- How can we pray for you?