Stop To Rest And Worship

Leviticus 23:1-3 - And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,  “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.  ‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.

God gave Moses 7 particular ties he wanted them to stop their normal working routine and give God some special praise with feasting and sacrifices. He wanted them to stop and celebrate the wonders of knowing God in a time of rest…and worship with specific sacrifices for each feast.

Most of us who believe and worship the trinity that provided our salvation…stop each Sunday to at least worship him… and no one can deny that Easter is a biggie too….but many Christians don’t have the luxury of stopping to rest on Sunday.  The world caters to the needs of the masses that want to eat out…and shop…and relax with things that cause others to work to man those restaurants and shopping malls.

Several times God has laid on my spirit the need to expand my definition of the Sabbath for any one person. Those who can’t attend a tradition church service because they work on Sunday…or even attend a mid week prayer service because they work on Wednesday…don’t leave God behind.  They find their own creative ways to worship God...not always in a corporate setting.

It’s a great reminder to me not to close my mind to new ways to provide worship and rest for the many people who find their livelihood depends on working on a day that I always considered a traditional worship day. Perhaps it is also a reminder that churches need to expand their ideas of when to provide worship as well.

Father…thank you for the reminder that worship is the attitude we have toward you at any one given moment…not the day or building we do it in.  Forgive me for the times that I judge others or forget that my selfishness causes some to have to work when they might rather be participating in corporate worship with others. Expand my heart and thoughts to think of ways to help others worship anywhere they find themselves…and promote alternate days of worship for those that search for ways to worship with others in a corporate setting.  Amen.