Daily Devotional For Friday, July 26, 2024

It is time to break out in the Hallelujah Chorus. It’s Fabulous Friday. Wow, this week flew by quickly. I don’t know what your plans are for the up-coming weekend, but did you include God in them or did you just make your plans? Proverbs 16:9 says, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps” (NLT). Are your plans for this weekend your plans, or the Lord’s? Oh, I hope I have not already offended some of you. So, let me ask it this way. Did you give your life to Jesus Christ? If you did, then whose life is it then? It certainly isn’t yours. 

Jesus said this in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (ESV). Seek first God’s kingdom. The Greek New Testament word translated as “kingdom” is [βασιλεία, basileia[. It can refer to an actual kingdom, but it can also be translated as “rule and reign.” Jesus says that before we plan our weekends, our vacations, we should seek first God’s rule and reign in these plannings. 

Look at Proverbs 19:21, “People may plan all kinds of things, but the Lord's will is going to be done” (GNT). The International Children’s Bible puts it this way: “People can make many different plans. But only the Lord’s plan will happen.” We tend to get very protective and defensive about how we plan out our free time — weekends and vacations. 

David writes this in Psalm 63:3-4, "Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. (4) I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands” (NIV). I can say without hesitation that God has been faithful to me throughout my life. When I look back on my journey, I cannot see a moment where His faithfulness has not defined my life story. 

But I also must admit I have sometimes wondered about His plan and His timing. I have never doubted God’s ability to act or His desire to accomplish what was best for me. But I have questioned why He seemed to be doing it this way instead of that way and working on His schedule instead of mine. I knew what was best and when was best, including free time and vacations—could He not see it, too? 

As the years have passed and I can see more of my life in hindsight, it is obvious that He, not I, knew what and when was best. I have learned that if I will focus on praising Him and expressing my gratitude for His love and care, I will be more content to wait on Him to direct my life—doing what is best, when it is best. This is why we must even seek God’s rule and reign even in our free time and vacations. I do not believe I have ever heard any Christian say, “Well, after we spend much time in prayer, this is the vacation we knew God wanted us to take.” Have you?

Matthew 6:33 comes after Jesus has admonished us not to worry about food and clothing. Just think about how much of our time is taken up with food, dining and deciding what to eat and where to eat. We can spend a lot of time planning our free time and vacations, but do we even consider or ask God what His will is for our free time and vacations? Vacations are about rest and relaxation. Have you ever filled a vacation with so much activity that when you got back, you needed a vacation from the vacation? 

God created and made rest. He even gave a commandment about in the big 10 — the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:8-11: 

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. (9) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (10) but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. (11) For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (NIV).

Isn’t it interesting that this commandment is the longest of all the Ten Commandments? I wonder why? Joy Davidman, the wife of C.S. Lewis, died from breast and bone cancer that metastasized. She was only 45 years old. As a widower, C.S. Lewis wrote A Grief Observed to pay tribute to his wife. His wife was an author also. In one of her books, Smoke On The Mountain: An Interpretation Of The Ten Commandments, she wrote this about the Sabbath Commandment:

Pastor and author John Piper writes this about what Joy Davidman wrote: “The wonder and the glory and the incredible gift of telling an ancient, agricultural people whose lives depended on working the land, `Not only don’t you have to go to work today, you may not go to work today’ — was a mandatory weekly vacation. And it was stunning. I mean, I just had never seen it in that light. And that is exactly the way it would have landed on people at least at the beginning. “You may not work seven days a week. I won’t let you. You must rest.” And then He consecrated the Sabbath to Himself as a sign of His own creative power and holiness. But the underlying issue of its gift nature to us — a worn out, finite, tired, and agricultural people — remains” (Source: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/a-theology-of-vacations).

The purpose of a Sabbath or vacation is rest and relaxation so that we can rejuvenate our bodies and energy for the tasks that are awaiting us when we get back home. Rest allows us to be in a position to do good works for Jesus — not to earn salvation, but out of gratitude. Even Jesus rested and commanded His disciples to rest. Look at Mark 6:31, “Then Jesus said, `Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.' He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and His apostles didn’t even have time to eat” (NLT). 

Questions To Consider

1. So, when it is Sunday — (maybe your Sabbath) are you resting? Did you ask God what He wanted you to do today on the Sabbath He created for you, (besides rest)?
2. When you plan out your vacations, do you pray to God asking Him what He wants you to do or do you just plan it? Why?
3. As you make your plans, how do you think the Lord determines your steps in those plans?
4. Do you ever get frustrated that God’s plans do not always align up with your plans? Why and what does this tell you?
5. When it comes to your next Sabbath Day’s rest and/or vacation, would you consider praying and asking God how He would want to spend it? Why or why not?

Scripture To Meditate On: Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (ESV).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I have to confess that when it comes to my free time and vacations, I really do not think about what You would want. I am so sorry for that. Lord, I know that every minute You let me live, is a gift from You. Help me be a good steward of even the time You give me so that I bring You glory through the use of the time You allot to me. I love You Jesus! In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!—Pastor Kelly