Sublime

In Jesus’ day, the teachers of the law multiplied the rules and regulations around the Sabbath so that it was no longer a joy, but a burden; no longer a delight, but a duty. Jesus responded to this dreary view by saying, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.”

Mike Cosper, Rhythms of Grace: How the Church’s Worship Tells the Story of the Gospel (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013);

For reflection: Numbers 29:1–40 If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already. —from Mere Christianity

And what is Jesus like? His life on earth embodied the ninefold fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

We are not called by God to die to the “good” parts of who we are. God never asked us to die to the healthy desires and pleasures of life—to friendships, joy, art, music, beauty, recreation, laughter, and nature. God plants desires in our hearts so we will nurture and enjoy them. Often these desires and passions are invitations from God, gifts from

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. EPHESIANS 3:20-21