Tuesday January 16, 2024

Today is Tuesday, January 16 and we are studying what scripture says about Sabbath rest.

As I begin this time of prayer, I quiet my mind, slow my breathing and focus on the God who loves me. As a new year begins I seek to learn how God wants to bless me and my faith family through the practice of Sabbath.

Pause and Pray

Holy and loving God, you created me and know what is best for me – body, mind and soul. Teach me the secret of contentment and what it means to be satisfied with the goodness you provide. Help me practice the rhythm of life you designed and find weekly Sabbath rest in your love. Amen.

In the morning, I seek God’s renewing, life-giving presence and call out to him with the words of Psalm 42.

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? Psalm 42:1-2

Pause and Pray

Water is a good thing. It is important for healthy bodies to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated. Not drinking enough H2O can affect a person’s mood, focus, memory, performance and motor coordination. The effects of mild dehydration include fatigue, low energy and headaches. It is the same in the spiritual life. A lack of spiritual water means I am not functioning well, I am not at my best, it is not “well with my soul.” My spiritual life can become dehydrated, dry, droopy and near death. I need water. Isaiah 55 is an invitation to the spiritually thirsty.

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. Isaiah 55:1-3

Isaiah’s prophecy is one of salvation. Those who come to the waters find new life. When a person has spiritual thirst, he or she often tries to satisfy the inner emptiness with the things of this world. What they really thirst for deep in the soul is God. Spiritually many people are dying of thirst and don’t even know it. Spiritual emptiness is masked and momentarily satisfied by the many pleasant things our culture readily provides. Ours is a society of discontentment, we never have enough of things and the world promises a satisfaction that never arrives. Sabbath is a weekly time to “come to the waters” of God and be filled.

Ask: How is it with my soul? Is my soul dry, thirsty, and empty? Or is my soul satisfied, content and refreshed?

Pause and Pray

Father God, thank you for the invitation to come to the waters of life. You offer exactly what I require for my thirsty soul. Forgive me for continuing to spin my wheels, spending time and money on things which offer no satisfaction, meanwhile neglecting the gift you offer on a weekly basis. I come to your Sabbath waters to have new life poured into me. Restore my soul. I read the words from Isaiah again and listen for the message you have for me.

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. Isaiah 55:1-3

Ask: What image, word or phrase stands out to me when I slowly read this passage? What is God trying to say to me through these words of scripture?

Pause and Pray

I cannot revive my own soul, only God can. When I turn to him, he will do so, through his Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ. This profound spiritual blessing is available to me. Isaiah spells out my invitation to come to Jesus and be filled. I am invited to come to the waters. I come, buy and eat without money. There is no cost, because the purchase price has already been paid. Jesus paid the price for me on the cross. All I need to do is come to him. Jesus, the Living Water invites me to come.

Pause and Pray

Lord Jesus, I long for you, I thirst for you, I seek your gift of living water for my thirsty soul. Come and pour life over the dry places of my heart, refresh the empty ground of my mind and revive my dehydrated spirit. Shower me with your Sabbath rains and renew me in your great love. Amen.

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14

I leave this time of prayer revived by the Living Water of the Savior, I go to pour myself out in love and service to others.

Amen