Read Exodus 31:12-18
Some are too young to even know that there was a time when “Google” wasn’t even a part of everyday vocabulary. Google hosts a fact sheet on itself. As for the meaning of “Google,” it plays on the term “Googol,” which is the mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros (10100 = 10000000000,0000000000,0000000000,0000000000,0000000000,
0000000000,0000000000,0000000000,0000000000,0000000000).[i] And, it says that the company’s mission is to organize the immense amount of information available on the web. Information overload is the reality today and Google is capitalizing on us trying to make sense out of the complex web of highly hyperlinked world.
In the ancient world of Israel, it wasn’t Google that helped them make sense, but God alone.
Consider Yahweh Mekeddeshem (Exodus 31:13), which means, “I am the LORD who makes you holy, to set you apart holy, to sanctify you.” Today, this will be like God saying to us, “The way you are going to make sense is not by immersing yourself in the world of information and entertainment overload. The way you are going to make sense is by drawing near to me into my kingdom where I am your Creator, your Deliverer, your Provider.
- How do you think taking the Sabbath, which meant stop working and resting on the seventh day, allowed the Israelites to make sense?
Read Exodus 23:10-12 about the Sabbath year.
- Who benefited when the Israelites faithfully observed the Sabbath rest of the land on the seventh year?
- Taking the Sabbath year of rest required trusting in God to provide and learning to express God’s generosity. How does the act of trusting and being generous help you make sense?
Read Matthew 11:28-30.
- Take time to discuss what’s confusing, unnerving, or disappointing in your life and how you are trying to make sense of it all.
- The Sabbath rest faithfully obeyed allowed the Israelites to live out the set apart life unto God. Share what you are doing to take regular, on going, proper rest in Jesus?
- The image of shedding your heavy weariness and burdens while picking up the easy and light yoke and the burden of Jesus Christ is what is like to shed selfishness to gain the ministry of Jesus as the light and the salt in the world. How are you moving from selfishness to grace-giving generosity?
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