Exodus 1:12b-14

12…the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.

After 430 years of making bricks, generation after generation, it was engrained in them: I am what I do.

We all feel this pressure to “do,” to produce “bricks.” Bricks of achievements and possessions.

Exodus 16:23-30

23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord…

29 Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days.

Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

Exodus 31:12-13

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, 13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths.

This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.

Sabbath rest was a reminder to them that it’s God who makes them holy and set apart.

1 John 2:16 NLT

For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

God doesn’t love you for your bricks.

John 11:3

So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."

Exodus 31:13

This [the sabbath] will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.

:::RESPONSE:::

Take a sabbath.

Hebrews 4:1 “The promise of entering God’s rest still stands.”

Hebrews 4:11 “Let us do our best to enter that rest.”

What would it look like if you didn’t make excuses, but you actually DID YOUR BEST to enter God’s rest?