Sabbath Rest

On the Jewish calendar, this evening at sundown began the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. After a large meal before sundown, the next 25 hours are to be a day of fasting and a sabbath day of rest for the people of Israel.

Lately, I have been trying to grasp the concept of sabbath rest. Even though I feel like a little minnow heading up the churning river of our times, I feel a nudging in my soul. God is placing stepping stones before me and He expects me to follow His path. (I know, I know. I morphed from the minnow analogy to walking on land. This is not a subtle plug for evolution!)

Consider this scripture I "happened" to read this evening:

Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God.
Leviticus 23:28 NIV

Yom Kippur was/is the only day all year that the high priest was/is allowed to enter the Most Holy Place. One reason God wants us to rest on the sabbath is to remind us that it is His work that gives us access to the Most Holy Place. We can labor until our fingers are raw. It is nothing we have done. Jesus, our high priest, is our scapegoat. He is our perfect sacrifice.

We rest in Him and get to be the unworthy, yet very grateful, partakers of His forgiveness.