Friday Preparation Day For The Sabbath: Bible Tradition
Friday Preparation Day, a Biblical tradition.
This is the first of ten studies of Rebekah’s life as a symbolical journey to the Fruit of the Spirit.
In the early centuries,
even before Jesus came to this Earth,
God’s people assigned Friday as the Day of Preparation.
Friday was the day to begin preparing for the Sabbath.
Then, our Savior was crucified on Friday.
This began the preparation for The Sabbath
when He arose again in victory and triumph.
Friday
is the day on Kim+INK
when we begin to prepare our hearts for Sabbath.
Sabbath is an open-heart-prepared thing,
ready to be filled with Spirit Fruit.
To really be God prepared,
to have Sabbath hearts,
we need Friday.
“Love” Preparation Day: Two Thousand Years Ago
It was a day like no other. The young girl strode swiftly along the dusty, well-trodden path, her water pot on her shoulder. Bird-song filled the air with the same expectant joy Rebekah felt in her heart. Surely, she thought, the grass was greener and the wildflowers brighter than ever before. She felt in her heart that God had made this day just for her.
Rebekah’s steps slowed as she neared the well. A strange man stood there, head bowed as if in prayer. He sensed her presence, then raised his head slowly. His gaze met hers. A jolt of… what?… a sense of knowing?… stabbed her being.
Then the man spoke, and he was not a stranger, for he spoke the language of her own family. “Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.”
“Of course,” replied Rebekah, suddenly feeling breathless.
Quickly she lowered the pitcher down into the crystal water and drew it up full. “Drink, my lord!”
When he had drunk she lowered her pitcher again. “I will draw water for your camels also, sir.”
Then back and forth she ran until the trough for the animals was full. She was eager to please this man who somehow seemed important to her. Somehow, it felt as though she had been heart prepared for this day in some surreal way. She didn’t want to go home. So she waited…
The man nodded, as if he’d come to a decision. He reached into the saddlebags of his camel, and brought forth gifts.
Rebekah shrank back.
How could she accept anything – and this in his hand looked like valuable jewelry – just for giving the man and his animals water?
And yet,
she sensed this meeting was ordained somehow.
So what could it mean?
Today: Prepare for the Sabbaths
Rebekah didn’t know how sincerely Abraham and his servant prayed long before this day. Abraham sought God’s leading in this bride search for his son just as he looked to God for all the miracles that happened in his life:
- a sky full of stars foretold the number of his descendants, even while he was getting older and had not one child of his own.
- giving his nephew the first choice of land, then watching as God prospered the land he was left with, that appeared barren and forsaken.
- the lamb bleating in the brush, while God stopped Abraham’s hand from slaying his son.
- angels coming for dinner, bringing a message Abraham and Sarah found hard to believe, but was just what God had promised all along.
Hardship after hardship, blessing after blessing, Abraham’s choices created Spirit Fruit in him. Time after time he made good choices preparing him for the Next Big Step. So this blind search for a bride was no different. Abraham sought God’s will, then followed the plan God spelled out to him.
It tells us God’s plan for His people is all good in the end, if we prepare for the Sabbaths.
May your day be filled with Love.
The Fruit of the Spirit
Ten “Friday of Preparation” studies align the story of Rebekah in the Bible
with a Fruit of the Spirit, then concluding with the “Legacy” post.
The series begins with “Love.”
