Then he said to them,
"The sabbath was made for man,
not man for the sabbath."
This line has always made me think. It seems to hold some secret and powerful meaning that you can find if you really spend time studying it. Well today as I started to break it apart and study it I found a general but so fundamental lesson that can be learned from this line before you really even get into thinking about what Jesus meant when he said this line.
The sabbath was made for man
The Lord made the sabbath day, the rest day, for us. It was not that he wanted us to spend a day resting or that he wanted to punish or control us by telling us what we could or could not do on a specific day. It was not that he wanted to restrict us or create a day for his own glory but it was that he knew we needed that day. He knew that we needed a day set aside from work and the demands of our lives. He knew that we need a day that we could devote to him and to our friends and family. He knew that without the sabbath day we would not thrive or even survive. He made the sabbath for us.
For Us
This is what the Lord does. We are his children and everything he does is for us. Even when it may seem like he is punishing us or trying to place restrictions on us we have to remember that he is doing it for us. We may not be able to understand or comprehend how or why but we always know he is acting for us. The Lord acts for our best interests even when we do not know what they are. Once we understand this we know that we should not get upset at the Lord when he seems to be bringing us down a dark path, we know that we should not get upset at the Lord when we see people we love suffering. Although we may know this it is a very hard thing to really feel. This line helps us remember that what is does is always for us.
There is still so much more to study and reflect upon in this line. Hopefully that will happen soon.
How can we remember that the Lord's actions are always for us?
Dear Lord, Help me to always remember that all you do and say is for us.
Linking up with On Your Heart Tuesday.
Happy Tuesday!
