Sabbathing Like Nobody's Business

 Growing up, I often heard the word “Sabbath” used by the adults around me.  To be honest, I mostly remember my adult family members arguing about what day of the week it should be celebrated- Saturday or Sunday- as well as whether we were still supposed to honor it.  As a kid, it sounded super boring and I worried it was a day where we either had to nap all day or sit and pray, read the Bible, or sing.  A day where doing anything that was actually fun was not allowed.  As an adult, I’ve had a mixture of feelings about it.  I have often felt like it’s a legalistic activity to participate in- under the old law that Jesus essentially erased when he came along.  I was pulling weeds one Sunday afternoon after church and I had a neighbor come and ask me if I was honoring the Sabbath by pulling weeds.  I honestly was a little offended at the time, but now that I know more about what the Sabbath is and the gift that it is, I see that his question was loving.

Some of you may be wondering what the Sabbath is.  In a nutshell, it all started with creation.  God created the world in 6 days and on the seventh day, he rested. Genesis 2:2 says that he finished the work he had been doing (you know, just some minor tasks like creating the oceans, sun, moon, and stars) and then rested on that day.  He not only blessed the seventh day, but he also made it holy.  It is profound to me that the introduction to the love story that is the Bible tells us that God found resting to be so sacred that he considered it holy.  In Deuteronomy, we read about the Ten Commandments.  One of the commandments that we often ignore is found in chapter 5, verse 12, where God commanded the Israelites to observe the Sabbath and not do any work on that day.  It was so important to God, that he had it on the list of the ten essential rules to follow.

I am apparently at a place in my life where I am suddenly open to this concept and my eyes have been opened to the fact that, all these years, I’ve never observed the Sabbath! Old rule or not, a full day of rest would certainly be a welcome gift- yet, I’ve ignored it. 

You would normally write a book review after finishing a book, right?  Well, if you have learned anything about me by now, you probably realize I tend to do things in life just a little bit differently, so you are getting a book review while I’m about halfway through a book.  I have been reading John Mark Comer’s book titled The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.  I am just so excited about it, that I can’t wait to tell you about it.  This book is life-changing.  In a brief synopsis, it’s about how we live in a distracted, hurried culture, where we are going full force all day every day and taking little to no time to rest.  When I say rest, I mean really resting.  Resting our souls.  It’s like the feeling we have after all of the Christmas activities have been completed and we’re cuddling up on the couch with our loves to watch a movie- feeling full satisfied and not worrying about anything else but being together at that point.  It’s getting in touch with who we truly are and focusing on who God is so that we know him and, thus, know ourselves as he is within us.  I know I am getting deep here, as you probably expected me to just talk about the importance of napping.  Don’t get me wrong- I am all for a good nap.  Big napping advocate here.  I personally do not take enough naps, whatsoever.   

It goes deeper than napping.  Mr. Comer defined the Sabbath in such easily understandable terms that I finally get it.  He notes that, as long as what you are doing can be defined as rest or worship, you are honoring the Sabbath.  Sitting down with friends and catching up over a bottle of wine- that’s resting, folks!  That may look different for each of us.  One thing that really stood out to me that he mentioned was that, if we are not honoring the Sabbath, we are going against the rhythm of life that God intended for us.  He rested on the first seventh day ever, which started the healthy rhythm and balance of life.  If we aren’t sabbathing, we are going against the grain.  We aren’t living the full, healthy, satisfied lives that God intended for us.  That makes sense, right?  I mean, how many of us feel unrested and dissatisfied much of the time?  It is because we are not taking the time to rest our souls.

Get you some Sabbath in your life.  I am committing to you right now that I am going to work at it.  I know it will take some getting used to, and my Monday through Fridays will look a little different to get ready for fully resting on Saturday, but I am ready to be in my natural rhythm.  I’m ready to enjoy rest, as God intended for me.  How about you?

With all my love,

Lyrica