True Sabbath Rest

Earlier this year the good folks at Amazon.com sent me an e-mail recommending a book by Tim Keller. This, because I've purchased from them a couple of other books by the minister of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan (where Geoff and Lisa are members). My Thursday-morning men's Bible study was deciding what to study next, and King's Cross seemed like an excellent solution:

• It is a study through the Gospel of Mark--not just a book about biblical ideas.
• It's by Keller, who is always thought-provoking and fresh.
• It would force me to read the book.
• It would offer something different from our usual study guide filled with questions and blank lines. 

The group agreed, and we began last week, after having read the introduction and the first three chapters.
This afternoon I had an experience that seems rare. I got to about 4:00 and didn't have anything I had to do or had planned to do.
Well, that's almost true. I had planned to work outside awhile today. Actually I planned to work outside awhile yesterday. But it's COLD--it was below 40 degrees when we left for church this morning. "It's been this temperature on Christmas Day," I told Evelyn. I looked outside this afternoon at the trees blowing in the wind, and I decided the weeds or edging could wait till a warmer day. (I'm going to see if I can take a vacation day Friday and work in the yard--if it will be any warmer then! The TV weather person commented that we're having our March weather in April this year--and we had April/May weather in March!)
So I snuggled down in our recliner with the book on my lap--and after about 6 pages, settled back into a nap! But before and after the dozing, I read all three chapters we agreed to consider this Thursday. It was a relaxing, re-energizing time. I tried not to feel guilty when Evelyn left me there to go take her daily 30-minute walk.
One section I read commented on Jesus' claim to be Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28; 3:1-6). "Sabbath means a deep rest, a deep peace," he wrote. "When Jesus says, 'I am the Lord of the Sabbath,' Jesus means that he is the Sabbath. He is the source of the deep rest we need. . . . The one-day-a-week rest we take is just a taste of the deep divine rest we need, and Jesus is its source."
Later he summarizes: "You can take all the vacations in the world, but if you don't have the deep rest of the soul, resting in what Jesus did on the cross, you will not truly rest."
I think I truly rested this afternoon, and I'm very glad.