And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses. | ||
| Numbers 15:32–36 | ||
| Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day. - Exodus 35:2–3 For gathering sticks to kindle a fire, the man in our text was put to death. Working on the Sabbath killed him physically just as it will kill us spiritually. You see, although I realize that Jesus died for my sins, that He paid the price, that He secured my salvation, I can mistakenly think that I need to stoke things up a bit, that I can get things hotter by my own efforts. So I begin to gather sticks by promising to pray four minutes every day and to read my Bible at least once a month. And if I do that, I can think I’m pretty hot. But, like any fire, the fire I’ve kindled demands more. So I find myself thinking that I better read a chapter a week and pray an hour a day, which then becomes a chapter and two hours of prayer every day and pretty soon fifteen chapters and six hours of prayer a day, until finally, I say, “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t follow through with these obligations and commitments. I’m so burned out, I’m going to forget the whole thing.” That’s what legalism does. That’s what this man in our text was doing. He should have been resting, enjoying the Sabbath - but instead he was gathering wood to stoke the fire. And he died in the process because legalism always kills (2 Corinthians 3:6). That’s why the Christian life is all about grace. It’s not about the sticks I gather or the fire I ignite. It’s all about what Jesus did, not with sticks, but on two beams of wood that formed the Cross of Calvary. “It is finished,” He said. And so it is. The person who finally gets it is the one who is truly blessed. This person says, “I’m going to learn to receive grace graciously. I’m going to rest. Instead of trying to impress God, I’m going to enjoy Him.” Our Enemy would have us believe that our Father is a stern God who overreacts in rage to a man innocently picking up sticks, when in fact, He is a Father who wants us to rest in Him because He is a God of immeasurable grace. Pastor Jon Courson | ||
