Sabbath Faith | May 25, 2019

DAILY READING

Exodus 16:27-35
Psalm 95
This week’s sermon text: Matthew 5:43-48

FIELD NOTES

Keeping the Sabbath is hard work.  We might think that this is a modern day problem; that having our email in our pockets and cell service that covers us worldwide makes it even harder for us to escape from work and find real rest. But as we see in Exodus 16, keeping the Sabbath has been difficult for as long as God has commanded us to keep it.
 
The people that decided to gather manna on the Sabbath in chapter 16 weren’t doing it because they had to. God had provided plenty of manna and if you read a few chapters earlier, you see that God gave Moses a specific plan for making sure everyone was fed and taken care of on the Sabbath day. No, they did it because…well, we’re not sure why. Maybe they were bored, or they were greedy…probably, though, they decided to go out and gather on the seventh day because, in their hearts, they didn’t have faith that God would send more bread tomorrow.
 
And this is the real problem in our culture: the reason we don’t keep the Sabbath very well isn’t that we have too much work; it’s because we have too little faith that God will provide for us.
 
Jesus reminds us not to worry, that if God cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, how much more will God care for us. Let us walk with that kind of faith—a Sabbath faith—today.

QUESTIONS FOR THE FIELD 

• Do you find it hard to rest? Why? Is it a matter of being too busy, or is it a matter of faith?
• What can you do today to find rest with God? 

FAMILY FIELD TALK

• Do you feel like you need rest? How can your family help you with that this week?

PRAYER GUIDE

God, we pray for rest, and we pray for the faith that will allow us to rest in you. We trust you to provide. In Jesus name, Amen.