Mar 21

Isaiah 56: ⁶ Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to Him and to love the name of the Lord and to be His servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it and who holds fast My covenant [by conscientious obedience] ⁷ All these I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples. (AMP)

 

Clearly these verses were written to highlight the fact that relationship with God is open to all people, both Jew and Gentile with no prejudice or additional requirements.  Yet, what I find tremendously profound is that once we accept Jesus as Savior (those who "join themselves to the Lord...) and we demonstrate our love for God through obedience, God takes care of the rest.  Think about that for a moment.  Look at the obedience God is emphasizing here.  Not that He takes away any requirements of the law, but He emphasizes observance of the Sabbath.  Now for whom was the Sabbath created?  God?  No!  The Sabbath was created for us.  God mandated a day of rest for us.  Not a day to focus on God (we're to do that every day!) or to somehow work at "earning our salvation" (which is how I think many view church attendance) or a day to "do something for God.  No, God requires us to labor 6 days and on the seventh to rest (Ex 16:29, 20:9).  That is a recognition that we need our rest.  Furthermore, God promises that for those who love and obey Him, He will bring us into himself (take us to His holy mountain).  Tell me what other "gods" out there simply demand we enter into a love relationship with him and they will take care of the rest? 

It all seems so simple until I get to that pesky "obey" part.  There is a part of me buried deep inside that says I know how to satisfy myself or to make myself happy or content without God.  I try to repress it and to conquer it, but it overwhelms me.  Instead I need to let God "take care of the rest," by turning these things over to Him, and let Him transform me into who he needs me to be such that these sinful ways cease to exist.  Rather than me trying to be acceptable to God on my own, which is impossible, our God promises to set us free from this impossible burden and "take care of the rest!"