Last week we were reminded that we are always “Working from Rest” as we use our “Sabbath”, which is Sunday, for that very purpose. Today we will be reminded that we’re called to make this “Sabbath Day”...“Holy”. Our “Sabbath Day” is not just rest for our bodies, it’s also and far more importantly rest for our souls. We start our week resting back on the Heavenly Father and watching as He builds us up, nurtures our faith, and strengthens our walk for the week ahead. We are fueled by Him and His Word and Sacraments as we intentionally take up “The Habit of Worship”.

Last week we were reminded that we are always “Working from Rest” as we use our “Sabbath”, which is Sunday, for that very purpose. Today we will be reminded that we’re called to make this “Sabbath Day”...“Holy”. Our “Sabbath Day” is not just rest for our bodies, it’s also and far more importantly rest for our souls. We start our week resting back on the Heavenly Father and watching as He builds us up, nurtures our faith, and strengthens our walk for the week ahead. We are fueled by Him and His Word and Sacraments as we intentionally take up “The Habit of Worship”.

We have be led to believe that if you’re not working, working, working, you’re somehow falling, falling, falling behind. What used to be a 9-5 day, forty-hour week, has now morphed into a 7-7 day and a 65 hour week! Even retirees will say “I’m working now more than ever!” That kind of non-stop work was never God’s plan for us. Work hard? Yes! Work diligently? Absolutely! But work yourself into the ground? Never. God calls us to Sabbath...God calls us to rest. And for the Christian, we work from our rest, we don’t rest from work. We start our week with rest, on Sunday, our “first day of the week”. We rest in order to be more effective. We rest in order to be our best. We are therefore always “Working from Rest”.

We have be led to believe that if you’re not working, working, working, you’re somehow falling, falling, falling behind. What used to be a 9-5 day, forty-hour week, has now morphed into a 7-7 day and a 65 hour week! Even retirees will say “I’m working now more than ever!” That kind of non-stop work was never God’s plan for us. Work hard? Yes! Work diligently? Absolutely! But work yourself into the ground? Never. God calls us to Sabbath...God calls us to rest. And for the Christian, we work from our rest, we don’t rest from work. We start our week with rest, on Sunday, our “first day of the week”. We rest in order to be more effective. We rest in order to be our best. We are therefore always “Working from Rest”.

The Bible is very clear about the import of the name of God. We are never, ever to take His name lightly but are to call upon His name in prayer and bear His name in this world, in such a way that others will see in us the true reverence we have for our Lord and yes, for His name. Everything we say and everything we do should give evidence that we believe with all of our heart the words of Paul in Philippians chapter two “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.” Philippians 2:9. May our lives prove that indeed, the name of Jesus is in fact, the “The Name Above Every Name”, but that it is so in our lives as well.