Sabbath: Worship the Lord of the Sabbath (Worship) - Utah Devotional (March 24)
This may seem backwards, but for a moment I want you to forget about everything we did today. Instead, think back to how you felt when you first came into this day. Were you tired? Maybe beyond tired and completely exhausted? Were you excited? Energized by the work we’ve been doing? Maybe you felt homesick. Maybe you felt overwhelmed. Take a moment and take inventory of how you felt coming into today.
Whether you were doing great, exhausted, or somewhere in between, you probably walked into this day carrying something. Mission trips have a way of revealing both the best and the worst in us. At this point in the trip, your teammates have probably seen both sides of you! You’ve worked hard, stretched yourself, and stepped outside your comfort zone in ways you probably didn’t expect. Face it, most of us are tired to some extent. The gas tank might not be full. It might even feel empty.
We took time to stop. Before we could truly rest, we had to pause long enough to notice where we were and what God was doing. We took time to rest. No agenda, no pressure, just sitting in the presence of the Lord. We took time to delight. Hopefully we laughed together, enjoyed nature, and experienced the simple goodness of God’s creation. And now we come to the fourth part of Sabbath: worship. You could make an argument that any of the four parts of Sabbath are the most important. At different times in life, one may matter more than the others. But for the sake of this mission trip, I think worship gets to be the most important tonight.
For starters, worship reorients our hearts back to reality. John Mark Comer, in Ruthless Elimination of Hurry says Sabbath is a lot like Christmas Day. You have to prepare for it. You can’t just wake up on Christmas morning and decide to suddenly put up a tree, wrap presents, and throw a huge party with all your relatives. Christmas takes preparation. But you also can’t leave the Christmas tree up, presents everywhere, and relatives in your living room for the rest of the year. Eventually, life settles back into its normal rhythm. Do we forget the meaning of Christmas? Of course not. But we also don’t live in Christmas mode every day. Sabbath works the same way.
Sabbath requires preparation to make sure your heart and habits are ready for a day of rest. Additionally, Sabbath can’t happen every single day by ignoring all life’s responsibilities—that’s not how God designed it. Therefore, we can’t forget what Sabbath teaches us everyday. This morning we talked about how we don’t just serve a day called Sabbath, but we serve the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus. And following Him is a daily endeavor. Which brings us to worship.
Worship is where we thank God for the day we just had, but it’s also where we remind ourselves that this kind of life with Him continues tomorrow. You get to worship Him through everything. Through every mountaintop moment of delight. Through every valley that gets exposed when you slow down and rest. You get to worship the King of the universe, the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ.
So think back to how you walked into today and how you’re walking out of it. How will you give everything you have to the Lord? How will today’s rest propel you into faithful work for the rest of the week? Because when we hear “give it everything you’ve got,” the temptation is to rely on our own strength. And when we rely on our own strength, it’s easy to start taking credit for the work that gets done. This slippery slope usually isn’t because we forgot to ask Jesus for help. Often it’s because, deep down, we struggle to place our identity in Christ. Worship reorients us. It reminds us that Jesus, not us, is the source of our strength. Worship takes everything Sabbath has represented today and places it back into the hands of Christ. We ask Him to carry us into the rest of the week. And when we do that, something else happens. We begin to release control. We begin to release our burdens.
Burdens are not something Jesus wants you to carry. He wants them placed on Him, because He knows we cannot carry them ourselves. That’s exactly what He did at the cross. Jesus took on the weight we could never bear. So if you’re carrying something tonight, bring it to Him. Maybe you saw the hardness of someone’s heart this week in a way you weren’t expecting, and it’s weighing on you. Give it to Jesus. Maybe you’re carrying anxiety, fear, or discouragement.Lay it at His feet. Maybe there are chains in your life—sin patterns, struggles, things you’ve been hiding. Bring them into the light tonight. If you struggle with anxiety or depression, bring that to Him. If there’s a relationship in your life that’s broken, place it before Him. If you’ve realized you’ve been trying to fit in with the world instead of finding your identity in Christ, confess that tonight. If you’re battling addiction—whether substances, alcohol, pornography, or something else—surrender it to the Lord and confess it to trusted brothers or sisters so you can find freedom. If you’re carrying any chain or burden, tonight is a place to surrender it.
May God refresh you emotionally, physically, and spiritually. May His Word nourish your soul. May abiding in Him remove the pressure to prove yourself through your work. And may worship tonight propel you into freedom. Freedom from chains. Freedom from burdens. Freedom to step into the work God has for you with joy.
May you glean some practical suggestions from my experience:
On a mission trip to Uganda, I had just stormed off after cleaning a flu-infested pit toilet—the grossest experience of my life. I felt taken advantage of. I wanted to go home. I wanted to plan my wedding. I wanted a hug from Olivia. I wanted air conditioning. I had reached my breaking point. I was tired of the strange labor jobs I kept getting assigned. In my mind, I thought, I’m capable of more than this. I knew I could preach the gospel well. I knew I could evangelize well. But instead, I was cleaning toilets and doing tasks that felt meaningless. And there were still several days left.
So I went to my room, laid flat on my back, closed my eyes, and started taking deep breaths. With every breath in, I reminded myself: I am in Christ. With every breath out, I reminded myself: I am renewed for good works. Then I opened my journal and wrote everything I was thinking—good, bad, and very ugly. After all, God already knew what was in my heart. I repented. I reminded myself that my identity didn’t come from what I was doing, but it came from who I was in Christ. Then I turned to one of my favorite passages, Psalm 40, and let God’s Word speak to me. And something shifted. My anxiety turned to peace. My exhaustion turned to energy. My anger turned into love in action.
By remembering who I was in Christ, I was reminded that my worth didn’t come from my work. The jobs I had been given were part of a bigger story—but I had been too focused on myself to see it. That’s why we read Revelation 21 today. Look at the beauty of what is coming for those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. When you realize your identity is rooted in knowing God, you become free. Free to worship. Free to surrender burdens. Free to serve others. Any chains you’re holding onto or acts of service get laid at His feet. He offers you that opportunity, and when you lay them down you can finally rest and worship. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. So tonight, lay things down at His feet and worship Him for who He is.
Scripture:
John 3:1-20
1 John 4:7-21
Revelation 21