Sick of Religion? Week 5: Devotional Day 7
DAY 7 – Sunday
Daily devotional
Read
Mark 2:23-3:6
Ask
What does this passage mean for your practical activities and motivation on the Sabbath? Is there anything you need to change about how you are keeping the Sabbath?
Reflect
If you had to pick out a keyword from the question above, which word would it be? I think the keyword might be you/your. Take a minute to read through this week’s passage again. Are the Pharisees concerned with how they are keeping the Sabbath? No! They are critiquing Jesus and the disciples for what they are doing on the Sabbath. The Pharisees are looking at the speck in the disciples’ eye when they collect grain on the Sabbath instead of addressing the plank in their own of not showing mercy and grace on the Sabbath.
As we looked at on Day 4, it is easy to turn religious practices into competition. It is easy to point out what someone else needs to change about their Sabbath practice, rather than addressing our own. As we close out this week on the Sabbath, I invite you to reflect on a few questions:
- What was the original intention of Sabbath? (See Ex. 20:8-11; Deut. 5:12-15; Day 3 of this week)
- Does this intention of celebrating God’s power and placing trust in him match your current motivation for keeping the Sabbath? If so, how do your practices align with this motivation?
- Are you willing to have your Sabbath practices interrupted in order to “do good” (Mark 3:4)?