Rest!

It's amazing how constant activity is from dawn til dusk, from rising in the morning until going to bed at night and even beyond.  Text messages.  Phone calls.  Email pings.  Tasks list reminders.  Calendar alerts. Conversations.  Projects and jobs.  Soccer games.   Almost everyone is so busy, so distracted; their - really, our - lives are so full of activity when can we rest?  

Even at church we don't really get to rest.  Church has for so many become a place of work.  We come to serve other people - and rightly so!  We come to preach and teach, to serve snacks, to give of ourselves, to give our offerings, to teach the kids, to carry on the ministry of a congregation. Has Sunday morning become another day at the office?  We may put our phones on silent (maybe even airplane mode and "do not disturb"), yet we're still getting pinged by email alerts, messaged on Facebook, messaged by text, alerted by the latest tweets.  We've got projects and tasks at home that need our attention.  Cares and concerns about our life outside the sanctuary that are waiting for our attention.  We're harassed and harangued by work even in a place that should give us sanctuary.

I wonder how the people in Jesus' day (and even before) felt when the came to the temple.  They were coming to fulfill a command from God.  They were coming to worship the only true God, yet they were surrounded by the bleating of goats and the jingle of change.  There was no rest there. There was no sanctuary there.  But the problem that Jesus addressed had nothing to do with what was happening.  There was a  need for money changers and goat sellers to be in the temple.  God had told his people to buy what they needed for the sacrifices when they got there since many were traveling such a long distance to worship. 

Here's the problem - God's people were distracted from the primary reason for which they came to the temple; God's people were kept from the sanctuary and the rest that God wanted them to have in him.  And that could have happened even with the bleating of the goats and the jingle of the change.

Tomorrow, we're going to gather for worship in God's house.  Tomorrow - but, why wait, do it today! - we rest in God alone.  He's our Savior.  He's our God.  He's our refuge and strength.  He's the Creator of all things.  He's the Sustainer.  He's our Provider.  Take a moment to keep describing him and all his works, all his ways.  Find rest in him!

So, turn your phone off for just a moment.  Turn off your alerts, quiet your mind and think on your God!  Focus on his works not yours.  Focus on his activity not yours.  Not that you can leave your work on your desk, or leave your house chores undone - but that you can rest your heart and your mind, that you can completely rest from your labors just as God did from his!

Psalm 62:1-2, 7-8, 11-12 "Truly my soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.  Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.... My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.  Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge... One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: 'Power belongs to you, God, and with you, Lord, is unfailing love."