Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers apiece. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, he said to them, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded: Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord; bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Monday, August 21, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
You gotta eat. It’s absolutely basic to self care. So when God commands the people to do no work on the sabbath, they need to prepare in advance. Honestly, this is how I eat. I cook things in bulk and then when mealtime comes, I assemble my various proteins, starches, vegetables, and fats onto a plate, toss it in the microwave and voilà: dinner. It means that for a day or two I spend a lot of time in the kitchen prepping an cooking, but then I get the freedom of not having to spend huge amounts of time cooking at every meal.
Likewise, on the day before the sabbath, God’s people spent extra time gathering extra manna so that they would have what they needed for their day of rest. Rest was so important a commandment from God that this was the only day God allowed them to gather more than they needed for the current day (otherwise it would rot). Once again it was a call to trust that God would provide all that was needed even as the people could not provide for themselves. God calls us into that same trust today—that we can allow ourselves restorative sabbath rest and know that God will sustain us in all our needs.
When have I struggled with allowing myself to rest?
