23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”
27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Observation: According to the law, it was perfectly fine to take the heads of grain from the field (first drive thru?) of someone as you were passing by, as long as you didn't take more than a share. This instruction was for the good of the community. The problem is that Jesus breaks the law by doing this on the sabbath.
Application: According to the principles of sabbath rest that God lays out; daily, weekly, yearly, every 7 years....I am not very good at recognizing the need for sabbath rest. Well, that isn't true either. I recognize the need but I am terrible about taking it. In a go-go-go action and production valued society, rest seems to be laziness. Yet it is what God wants for us. So much so that we are instructed to participate in it and Sabbath was given to us, for us, because God loves us. Sabbath is not about the 'shoulds' - I should do this, I should do that....but it is about claiming the desire for God to bring us rest by abiding in him.
Prayer: Lord help me find rest daily, weekly, yearly, and sabbatically. Help me work from rest. Strengthen me to say no to the constant demands of the world.