Lord of the Sabbath

Those silly Pharisees will never learn, will they!  Did you know they created 39 categories of actions forbidden on the Sabbath (the seventh day set aside for rest and worship)?  They were overly concerned with following the letter of the law...and observing the Sabbath is part of the Big 10.  But Jesus always emphasized the intent of the law - the meaning behind it.

Matthew 12:6 "I tell you that one greater than the temple is here".  I loved my Bible's explanation of this verse:

• The Pharisees were so concerned about religious rituals that they missed the whole purpose of the temple - to bring people to God.  And because Jesus Christ is even greater than the temple, how much better can he bring people to God...If we become more concerned with the means of worship than the One we worship, we will miss God even as we think we are worshiping him.

This just made me think of how many different churches/church services I've been to that were sooooo focused on the rituals that there was no connection to God.  Some places I felt comfortable because I knew the routines, other places I wasn't allowed to participate because I wasn't a member.  I thank God that other members of my family started to find churches that realized the importance of connecting on a personal level with Christ...and that I was able to then find a church home of my own where I could learn and grow in my faith more over the last 6 years than I have in my whole life.

Reading Matthew 12:43-45 was a little light bulb moment for me too.  These verses talk about how you can clean up your life, but if you don't replace it with God - you leave plenty of room for Satan to enter.  In the past when I've had a habit, or a problem that I tried to deal with on my own - it would be successful for a short time, but then either the same issue or a new one would come up and take it's place.  I didn't realize that my recent victories were successful because I had removed a specific sin problem and started to fill it with God's Word (my bible readings) and the Holy Spirit (through prayer).