27 August | Youth
«Therefore, the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.» Mark 2:28
Every special day has a purpose. Mother's Day is to honor mothers, Father's Day is to honor fathers, Children's Day is to make children happy, Valentine's Day is to warm the hearts of lovers. Likewise, God’s day does not belong to us; it is His. It should therefore not revolve around my agenda but be dedicated to God. It will not obey my schedule, but His. Ask yourself: If you were God and had set aside a day to meet with Your children, would you miss that meeting? Would you be late? Would you stop attending because it is raining? Would you choose to stay in bed until later? Would you rather go to the beach, study for a test, go shopping or visit a friend? Probably not. Our human imperfection explains some of our failures, but it does not justify our lack of commitment to what we say is important to us.
When I (Júlio) met Dida, in the state of Bahia, Brazil, he accepted the Bible study I offered. Interested and intelligent, he learned everything he could about Jesus. He wanted to join the church and started giving tithes and offerings spontaneously, but he stopped when we got to the lesson that covered keeping the Sabbath. Dida accepted the message in theory but was afraid to put it into practice. Owning one of the few barbershops in the city, he did not want to lose his clientele. So, for a while, he only closed the establishment on Friday night. He watched whether income would drop and only then decided to close on Saturday morning. Finally, he began to dedicate his entire Saturday to God and, excited, told me the news: “I did not lose money or customers. Now I earn even more than before.” He put God to the test and drew his own conclusions.
God accepts our crumbs of love not because He is needy or hungry, but because He interprets it as a demonstration of our desire to serve and love Him. When you give Him space in your life, no matter how small, He transforms your nothing into everything. God lifts you to high places. He takes you from the status of an impenitent outsider and treats you like a faithful child. Did you understand why the Sabbath is important? First, because it is His day, made by Him to relate to us. God will use this drop of time to bless you and prepare you for the day when this encounter will never be interrupted again. I believe. And you?