Read: Isaiah 58:13-14
Everyone wants to find joy, especially at Christmas. When we sing songs like “Joy to the World” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” (Joyful all ye nations rise) we are singing about a joy that has come to the world through Christ at Christmas. As Christians we know and recognise that ultimate joy is found only in God through our saviour Christ Jesus. We know that we will grow in joy as we grow in relationship with Him. But have you ever stopped to think that maybe observing the Sabbath principle might help you to find joy in God?
That is what Isaiah says here in Isaiah 58. Isaiah was calling God’s people back to God, exhorting them to be faithful again to God’s commands and faithful to God’s covenant. Here in Isaiah 58 God is commanding His people to live in a way that is honouring to Him and according to His commands. In verses 13 and 14 He commands them to keep His Sabbath day holy and to spend the day worshipping Him and resting from their work
Specifically he commands them not to do as they please on the Sabbath day but to honour Him. They are to call the day a delight and to keep it as an honourable day. They are to not go their own way, to do whatever they want or to speak idle
But notice the promise that comes along with this command. If they keep the Sabbath holy and obey all of God’s commands for it: “Then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” This is not some dusty, dry and boring command that makes the Sabbath day the most boring of the week. If God’s people obey His commands and keep this day holy they will be filled with joy in the Lord.
Now we must be careful at this point. We cannot simply take God’s promise to His people of Israel and transplant it into our day and age. We can’t assume that if we keep God’s Sabbath then we will ride on the heights of the land and feast on the inheritance of Jacob. This was a specific promise to God’s people in the Old Testament. But, what we do learn from this passage is that keeping the Sabbath is not a dreary duty. Rather, when we set aside a day to worship God and to rest from our work we will grow in relationship with Him and find joy, peace and satisfaction in Him. God didn’t invent the Sabbath as a test to see if people would obey Him so that He could punish them when they didn’t. God designed the Sabbath to bring rest and joy to His people.
When we ignore God’s commands, when we do not set aside a day a week (Sonday in our case) to worship God and to rest from our usual activities, we are missing out on growing in relationship with Him and finding great joy and satisfaction in Him.
Prayer:
Use the Bible passage from today and the reading notes to write down your prayer points before you pray.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
¥ Pray for the gathering of God’s people at your church tomorrow. Pray that God would be preparing your heart and the hearts of all who would come. Pray that the word would be faithfully and boldly preached and that many would be changed through it. Pray that the time of fellowship would be encouraging and that God’s people would grow in love for one another.
¥ Pray for the gathering of believers all around the world tomorrow. Pray that the word would be faithfully preached all around the world. Pray that believers in dangerous countries would be encouraged and that they would be bold to preach the gospel.
We don’t really worship for God’s sake, we worship for our sake too. When we worship God, when we focus all our attention on Him and seek to honour Him alone we find that we grow in joy and peace too. Worshipping God benefits us too!
1. How do you think observing the Sabbath principle and setting aside a day a week to rest and worship God helps us to grow in relationship with Him?
2. How does this help us to grow in joy?
Intro: Everyone wants to find true and lasting joy and happiness.
Share: What is joy? Share something that gives you joy or happiness. Where do you think you can find joy?
Read: Isaiah 58:13-14 According to this passage where can joy be found? The Bible tells us that true and lasting joy comes only from God. What do you think is the difference between joy and happiness? How can we find joy in God? What does it look like to have true joy in God? Who should we tell about the true joy that we can find in God?
Read: Isaiah 58:13-14 According to this passage where can joy be found? The Bible tells us that true and lasting joy comes only from God. What do you think is the difference between joy and happiness? How can we find joy in God? What does it look like to have true joy in God? Who should we tell about the true joy that we can find in God?
Pray Together: Thank God that we can have true Joy in Him. Pray that He would help us to tell many people about the joy they can have in Him.
Intro: Everyone wants to find true and lasting joy and happiness.
Share: What is joy? Share something that gives you joy or happiness. Where do you think you can find joy?
Read: Isaiah 58:13-14 According to this passage where can joy be found? The Bible tells us that true and lasting joy comes only from God. What do you think is the difference between joy and happiness? How can we find joy in God? What does it look like to have true joy in God? Who should we tell about the true joy that we can find in God?
Read: Isaiah 58:13-14 According to this passage where can joy be found? The Bible tells us that true and lasting joy comes only from God. What do you think is the difference between joy and happiness? How can we find joy in God? What does it look like to have true joy in God? Who should we tell about the true joy that we can find in God?
Pray Together: Thank God that we can have true Joy in Him. Pray that He would help us to tell many people about the joy they can have in Him.
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