#1528. God has a design for time (1/6/26)
- Matt Beaney
- Jun 1
- 6 min read
Welcome to this Come to Jesus Daily Devotional (currently posted on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) as we continue our Stewardship series.
To watch this devotional, please select the link below:
Jordan Raynor, in his very helpful book Redeeming Your Time, opens with these words:
‘Increasingly, it feels like time happens to us—like we’re running a race that’s impossible to win. We feel beholden to our calendars, watches, and to-do lists rather than having dominion over these tools that promised to make our lives easier and more productive. We have too much to do and not nearly enough time to do it. In short, we’re swamped.’
This week, in our stewardship series, we are thinking about stewarding the gift of time that God has given us. I’m far from the most qualified person to speak on this subject, but together we can seek to learn from God’s Word.
Today we see this truth:
Time is created by God, and the units of days and weeks are to be stewarded wisely for both work and rest.
‘“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”’ (Exodus 20:8-11)
1. God has established the seven-day week
Throughout history, there have been various attempts to alter the seven-day week. After French Revolution, France introduced a ten-day week—the décade—with nine days of work and one day of rest. The Soviet Union later experimented with five-day and six-day working weeks. Ultimately, these systems failed, and society returned to the seven-day pattern.
In our passage, we see that the fourth of the Ten Commandments gives a pattern for how humanity is to view time. Life is structured into a seven-day rhythm: six days for labour and one day for rest. To steward our time according to God’s design, we should seek to honour this rhythm.
John Piper, in an article on the Lord’s Day, wrote:
‘The week exists. That is not to be taken for granted. Days exist because that’s how long it takes the earth to rotate. Months exist because that’s how long it takes the moon to wax and wane. Years exist because that’s how long it takes for the earth to revolve around the sun. But why do weeks exist? They do not correspond to any phenomenon in nature. The answer is: the week exists because of Genesis 2:2, “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.”
2. What was the Sabbath for?
Under the Old Testament Law, the Jews were commanded to:
Rest - Cease regular labour on the seventh day (Exodus 20:9–10).
Worship - Treat the Sabbath as holy and devoted to God (Numbers 28:9–10; Isaiah 58:13–14).
Remember - Recall that God had rescued them from slavery and made them His people (Exodus 31:13–17).
The Sabbath was therefore not merely a restriction, but a gracious gift: a day for restoration, worship, and remembrance.
3. Does the New Testament teach Christians to keep a Sabbath?
Regarding how Christians should view the Old Testament Law, Gregg Allison helpfully writes:
‘God revealed himself and his truth through the Old Testament, any aspect of it continues to be true and thus binding for Christians, unless Christ and the New Testament either explicitly or implicitly abrogate or modify it.’ (Allison, Gregg R.. Sojourners and Strangers)
The New Testament never explicitly commands Christians to observe the Old Testament Sabbath law. Instead, the Sabbath is presented as pointing forward to the deeper rest found in Christ (see Hebrews 4:1–11).
Additionally, many of the first Christians were Gentiles or slaves, meaning that formal Sabbath observance was often difficult or impossible. The apostles therefore did not impose Sabbath-keeping on Gentile believers (Colossians 2:16–17; Romans 14:5).
4. A rhythm of rest and worship is wise
However, the pattern of six days of work and one day of rest—established at creation and later commanded through Moses—still reflects wise and godly rhythms for human life.
Even if Christians differ on whether the Sabbath command itself remains binding, regular rest and worship remain good gifts from God.
What about those whose work does not fit neatly into this pattern?
Of course, there are vocations—medical staff, police officers, parents, pastors, carers, and others—whose responsibilities may require irregular schedules. Yet even in such situations, as far as possible, we should seek healthy rhythms of work, rest, worship, and fellowship.
When we think about stewarding our time for God’s glory and our good, setting aside a shared day for rest and worship is deeply wise. As far as possible, we should make gathering together for prayer, worship, and Communion a high priority in our lives.
Response
Time is created by God, and days and weeks are gifts to be used wisely for both work and rest.
It is wise to set aside a special day - a sabbath - from work, school, DIY, and ordinary pressures, so that we can focus on the important rhythms of:
Rest
Worship
Remembrance
Are we, as far as possible, seeking to live this way? Are we devoted to gathering for worship, prayer, and Communion, or do we allow work and lesser things to rob us of true rest and fellowship?
We must also beware of imbalance. Some become enslaved to work; others become enslaved to comfort and leisure. Are we working wisely and resting wisely?
Let’s finish with Jesus’ words about the goodness of the Sabbath:
‘“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”’ (Mark 2:27-28)
This year we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of CCP; to watch our anniversary video, please select the link below:
Community Group Study
(This week is ‘SIV’ (Serve, Invest and inVite) Week, so we’ll be focussing on this during our time together.
1. Notices
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
2. Worship together
Let’s begin our time together by lifting our eyes and hearts to worship our great God. Perhaps you have readings and songs that you would like to use together. Let’s be open to the gifts that the Spirit wants to give in order to encourage one another.
3. Study and pray together
(This week is ‘SIV’ (Serve, Invest and inVite) Week)
On Sunday, we continued our stewardship series by looking at how we manage our time—a critical factor in how effectively we live out our mission. If we aren't intentional with our time, the urgent, day-to-day pressures will quickly crowd out our ability to make deliberate investments in our community.
What is SIV?
SIV stands for Serve, Invest and inVite. This is our very simple strategy to help bring our community to Jesus. We believe that God has placed us in relationships and in specific locations to be 'salt and light.' and to ‘fish for people’. We can effectively bring people to Jesus by:
'Serving' them - Demonstrating the love of Christ in practical ways;
'Investing' - Investing in the ‘people of peace’ those whom we feel the Spirit is leading us.
'Inviting' - Inviting them into our homes by showing hospitality and inviting them to church events, to Alpha, and ultimately, inviting them to come to Jesus through the gospel.
In your groups:
Share stories – Have you had any recent opportunities to Serve, Invest in, or Invite someone toward Jesus? Let’s encourage one another by sharing stories of how we’ve seen God at work through simple faithfulness.
Think about practical next steps – Who might God be placing on your heart at this time? Are there any “people of peace” (see note) in your life—those who seem open, welcoming, or receptive to spiritual conversation?
Pray together:
Pray for courage, wisdom, and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit in our Serve, Invest, and Invite opportunities.
Pray specifically for the ‘people of peace’ in our lives - that God would open hearts and deepen relationships.
Pray for our Alpha ministry and Phil Mash who heads up this team
Pray for our mission in Roehampton - that He would lead us in reaching that community with the gospel.
General prayer: how do people want prayer at this time?
Comments