I was reading in the book of Ezekiel (as per the YouVersion “daily reading” plan which has regrettably looked for me more like an every-other-daily plan at best) recently and was struck by Ezekiel 20:12.
Did you catch that? (mouse over the verse to read it) God gave us the sabbath (a day of rest at the end of the week) to be a sign that he is the one that sanctifies us (makes us holy)! What a profound thought, that the sabbath, as opposed to being a religious formality where we stop working for fear of God punishing us, is in fact supposed to remind us that all of our striving and work could never save us.
God longs for us to come and sit at His feet, and cultivate a relationship. He’ll do all the fixing, the working, the chipping away of the old self. All we have to do is rest.
