Deuteronomy

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.”  —Isaiah 42: 3

“God himself did not despise humanity, but became man for men’s sake.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“You can survive on your own.  You can grow strong on your own. You can even prevail on your own.  But you cannot become human on your own.  Surely that is why, in Jesus’ sad joke, the rich man has as hard a time getting into Paradise as that camel through the needle’s eye.  Because with his credit card in his pocket, the rich man is so effective at getting for himself everything that he needs that he does not see that what he needs more than anything else in the world can be had only as a gift.  He does not see that the one thing a clenched fist cannot do is accept, even from God himself, a helping hand.”—Frederick Buechner

“But all the while, there was one thing we most needed even from the start, and certainly will need from here on out into the New Jerusalem: the ability to take our freedom seriously and act on it, to live not in fear of mistakes but in the knowledge that no mistake can hold a candle to the love that draws us home. My repentance, accordingly, is not so much for my failings but for the two-bit attitude toward them by which I made them more sovereign than grace. Grace – the imperative to hear the music, not just listen for errors – makes all infirmities occasions of glory.” —Robert Farrar Capon

“Sabbath is about God interfering with all the things you think you need to get done so that you can focus on what He has done for you.” —Eugene Peterson

“When we rest we acknowledge that all our striving will, of itself, do nothing.  Rest means letting the world pass us by for a time.  Genuine rest requires acknowledging that God and our brothers and sisters can survive without us.  It requires recognizing our own insufficiency and handing over responsibility.  It is truly surrendering to the ways of God.  It is a   moment of celebration, when we acknowledge that blessing comes only from the hand of God.  That is why rest requires faith.  It is also why salvation can be pictured as rest.  When we rest we accept God’s grace: we do not seek to earn; we receive.  We do not justify; we are justified.” —Paul Marshall

“At least at night,
Let your heart have a rest . . .
At least at night,
Stop your career,
Calm those desires that nearly madden you,
See if you can manage to put your dreams to sleep.
Yield yourself,
Body and soul,
Yield yourself really,
Truly and completely into God’s hands!”
—Brazilian pastor’s poem

“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.  Unless the LORD keeps watch over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.  It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for he gives to his beloved sleep.” —Psalm 127: 1-2