The Daily Word of Righteousness

Three Aspects of the Rest of God, #11

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 58:13,14)

Here is how the Lord Jesus always lives. Here is how you and I are to live, not only on Saturday but twenty-four hours of every day from now through eternity. Every citizen of the new world of righteousness, not just the members of the royal priesthood, is to live this way.

To turn away our foot from doing our own pleasure.

To delight ourselves in doing the Lord's will rather than our own.

To view the doing of God's will as holy and honorable.

To honor God by not following our own plans.

To honor God by not pursuing our own pleasures.

To honor God by not speaking our own words.

Man was not designed to create his own heaven and earth, to pursue security, pleasure, and achievement by means of his human brain. He can never attain security, pleasure, and achievement other than by relinquishing every aspect of his being and doing to his Lord. Man absolutely must trust God for his security. Man absolutely must trust God for his pleasure. Man absolutely must trust God for his achievement. Until he does he is not fit for the Kingdom of God.

God did not create man to be separate from Himself but to be an integral part of Himself. When man is detached from God, going his separate way, he is a miserable, unfruitful, destructive creature. When man chooses of his own will to enter the eternal Sabbath of God, he will find delight in God and will "ride upon the high places of the earth." He will be fed with the heritage of Jacob, who then will be his father. To be fed with the heritage of Jacob is to receive the very best of all there is in the creation.

The author has learned many lessons in more than a half-century of Christian discipleship. The most important lesson is to press closer to the Lord each day until every aspect of personality and behavior is brought under His complete control. Abiding in Christ brings us to the fullness of God, to the rest of God.

To be continued.