Bible Study on March 12, 2017
Like many people this weekend, I have been watching the different conference basketball tournaments, getting
ready for the March Madness tournament, with the finals here in Phoenix in a couple of weeks.
One game was between Michigan and Minnesota. Minnesota was playing with only six players. Two players played
every minute of the game for the last two games. In the end, they got tired. Michigan won. The Minnesota players
needed a day of rest.
Today's lesson is that both prayer and rest need to be priorities. We live in an age of clutter. It's important for us to
think about how we spend our time and what we give priority to. As we walk with God, part of that walking involves
prioritizing time spent alone with Him in prayer.
And we also need a break. A rest. The scriptures say a Sabbath (or Sunday) rest remains for God's people. For the
person who has entered His rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from His. Do you think we live in a
culture that values rest and solitude?
Do we make prayer and rest priorities? Jesus' primary priority was to preach the good news. With such a
challenging and important mission, prioritizing time alone with the Father was central to Jesus' days. This time gave
Jesus the opportunity to rest, refuel, and remain connected to God and His will for Jesus' work.
Jesus' time alone with God also provided Him the opportunity to rest. As we walk with God, part of that walking
involves resting. But we can only truly enter into that state of Sabbath rest through faith, trusting in God's finished
work on our behalf. When we do, we will remember that because of Jesus, there is nothing else we have to do.
In what ways do you feel like you are living on autopilot? How do the habits and routines you've formed keep you
from resting?
To truly rest we must understand that rest isn't always about sleep; it's more about completion. That's why God
rested in creation-and on the seventh day He rested. It wasn't because He was tired, it's because His work was
finished and He could enjoy it.
In Him, we can live in a state of rest even when we are physically tired. The finished work enables this state
because it transforms the way we work. We don't do so to prove ourselves or to secure some kind of future. We do
so as a celebration of what God has already done for us.
"I wish I had more time to …"
This week's scripture is Mark 1:35-39.
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P. Boothe, HiWay BC/Silent Hope Family Ministries. From adaptations by B. Lalley and Dr. Robert V. Peltier.