Remembrance and Rest
At this point in the story of Exodus, we have seen God repeatedly communicate his motives for rescuing the people of Israel from slavery – He had a desire to commune in relationship with them.
In chapter 23 we see God continue to lay out the pathway to ensure that His people might remain in relationship with Him. He speaks of two essential components to remaining in relationship with him - remembrance and rest.
In His goodness, God instructs His children to remember His good works, in the form of formal celebrations. Not because He needs applause or attention, but because He desires for His children to connect to their memories in a way that impacts their thoughts, feelings and actions.
This act of remembering was intended to call the people to respond rightly to the God who rescued them. This demonstration of trust and obedience is best realized in the second component of remaining in right relationship– rest.
Just as God commanded rest for His people through, in the Old Testament, He calls us to live the same. God requires rest, not to control us, but because He knows that His people need to be refreshed. He also knows that the tendency of man is to toil tirelessly, in an attempt to maintain control, and see things work out in a way that they desire. When we refuse to rest, we are weary in our work and weighted down physically, mentally and emotionally.
Jesus calls us to come to Him in our weariness, follow His example, and find the rest that we need for our souls.
All through the New Testament we see Jesus exemplify this rest and trust by continually communicating His obedience and dependence on the Father.
Rather than relying on His own strength to control outcomes, He continuously submitted to the will of the Father, even to the cross.
If we are also going to experience the rest that Jesus calls us to, we need to depend on the Father to meet our needs and to use the strength that He has entrusted to us to bring glory and honor to His name.
Our culture’s pervasive drive for independence has made it difficult for many to remember and rest in Him. We too, like the children of Israel should build in regular rhythms of remembrance, so that we are not likely to rewrite history and think that we’ve gotten to where we are on our own.
Questions to Consider:
Read Deuteronomy chapter 8, and consider the dangers of forgetting who God is and what He has done in your own life.
What are some of the obstacles or distractions that make obedience and trust in God difficult for you? How can you follow Christ’s example and move towards a more restful life?