Sabbath…Making it a Great Day!
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy…Exodus 20:8-11
In last weeks blog from The DAWGHOUSE, I shared a quote from John Mark Comer in his book, “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry,” …Sabbath is more than just a day; it’s a way of being in the world. It’s a spirit of restfulness that comes from abiding, from living in the Fathers loving presence all week long. To really enjoy the seventh day we have to slow down the other six.
As Pete taught a few weeks ago regarding the fourth commandment…he offered this question, “How could I use Sunday in a way that would help me and my family to grow spiritually?”
How would you answer this question? I think it is an important and valuable question to consider. As I think about what it would take for Sunday be a day that helps me and my family grow spiritually, I have to begin to look at how I live the other six days of the week. I’m sure of this…we are just too busy during the week. We live in a culture of busyness, hurry, and overload which makes it much more difficult to live emotionally healthy and spiritually rich and vibrant lives.
Because we live in a culture of accumulation and accomplishment which creates rest-lessness, we need a day to rest-more, to STOP from the rhythm of life which is so much about the activities required to keep accumulating and accomplishing at a high level. What a gift from our Good, Good Father that He gave us the Sabbath. In creation, the rhythm of His week was to work…work…work…for six days, Then REST! Most of us would agree that God designed us in a way that one of our key roles is as a worker, modeled in creation as God was at work. Would we say that rest is also a part of our role? I’m guessing we would say it is valuable but that is different than making it a priority. I believe God is inviting us to make it a priority.
So how do we do that?
I’m going to answer this question by offering more questions to think about…
Do I recognize the reality of my busyness and hurry?
How do I manage this reality?
Do I intentionally plan on time to stop the regular rhythm of my days and have a different kind of day?
Do I take time to prepare for this “REST” time?
For me, I’ve spent more than 60 years going to church. This has been a good thing but the last ten years have been increasingly better. There are many reasons for why I began to experience the Sabbath day more richly but it started with a recognition that I was so overwhelmed with my work and desire to provide for my family, struggling with how well was I doing it. Rather than working one more day, I began to see that by stopping for this one day, experiencing God providing on this day, I was reminded of how He is the real provider all the other days as well. I began to trust Him more for provision during the week, which in turn began to fuel my ability to rest more on the Sabbath. As this rhythm in my life continued, I began to experience the “church” time as much more worship than duty. This then lead to ALL of the Sabbath day being more restful.
Going to church can just happen…but REAL SABBATH requires intentionality, being intentional during the week to both plan and prepare, having the self control to say no to more than just the lesser things but even no to some really good things so you can be Grace Energized to say yes to the best things!
As Pete taught us, God gave us a day, the Sabbath, as a unique day, different from all other days in the rhythm of our lives, by following His example in creation, to experience the richness of our identity as beloved sons! He knew we would need this day.
Boldly Walking with Forge Men…Kelley
