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January 19 - March 16, 2019
God stood back and looked at all he had done, rehearsing each previous day of work with the conclusion of deep satisfaction. Good. He decided the results of his work had been good. Isn’t this how we long to approach the weekend, satisfied with our work and ready for relaxation? Unfortunately, contentment in work that lends permission to rest seems elusive. Our work is never fully finished. And that’s why we don’t allow time for rest.
Genesis tells us that a day of rest was on God’s heart long before he made it a commandment. The seventh day is more than a day to sleep in, check out, and be a lump on the couch while binge-watching our favorite TV shows. The day God chose to rest is the first time he names something holy.
don’t confuse holy with perfectionism in following a set of rules. Holy means “set apart,” which isn’t only limited to people. Holy is also used to describe places where God is present.
SUNDAYS ARE NOT SABBATH FOR ME.
Because Sundays are NOT Sabbath...
God created rest to be as natural as breathing. Sabbath is the exhale required after six days of inhaling our work.
The commandments are still relevant today because truth never changes; it is always and eternally true.
Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for our sins changes the rules of Sabbath to a day of grace.
Always was a day of grace...
The Sabbath is not for the sake of the weekdays; the weekdays are for the sake of Sabbath. It is not an interlude but the climax of living. Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath
Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us to be a light to the nations, and who gave us Jesus our Messiah, the Light of the world.
So these friends were Messianic Jews?
“Belonging is being accepted for who you are, and fitting in is changing who you are to be accepted.”
Sabbath reminds us that we belong because we are already accepted. Rest requires that we be who we are and nothing else.
Remembering and keeping the Sabbath is a commandment, but perhaps I’ve viewed it as an elective, something to choose if and when the opportunity suits my schedule.
Sabbath invites Christ to come into our everyday life, to rethink priorities and celebrate his faithfulness. Sabbath is weekly preparation and anticipation for making space in our lives for Christ to come. Sabbath rhythms are generous gifts: they are not about guilt.
One day a week, God asks us to “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8) because he knows how easily perspective can slant.
the day you choose to Sabbath
Really? The day YOU CHOOSE? God already set apart and made a day holy. If you're going to embrace Sabbath, why not embrace THE Sabbath?
Sabbath becomes integrated as a lifestyle
What brings you joy and peace and closer to the heart of God? Your answer will help to define what rest looks like for you.
we are created with intention by God for a specific purpose, and the way of discovering that purpose is through relationship with him, then the way of discovering what we are missing in life is through abiding with him on Sabbath.
“All his precepts are trustworthy.”
A precept is “a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought . . . a writ or a warrant,”
The Ten Commandments are the writs God instructed Moses to chisel into stone for our good. In Hebrew, the Commandments are called aseret hadevarim,3 the ten words or the ten utterances; words that guide our intentions, thoughts, and actions.
If his precepts are trustworthy, then his rules are for our good, not imprisonment. Right?
His words for us aren’t just for discipline and pointing fingers. They are personal love letters with his fingerprints on the edges, words written in unmistakable voice. Language making the heart race wildly with purpose.
When we envision our relationship with Jesus as a never ending love story fueled with anticipation, it changes the way we approach tomorrow, the future, and the way we walk toward Sabbath.
Sabbath is a weekly dinner date with Jesus, a time set apart when we give him our undivided attention.
May I propose that our lives are a series of love letters to our Creator? A continual conversation that started the day we took our first breath. Sabbath is a special time he anticipates because he loves you. We prepare to be with people we love by choosing the right outfit, making reservations, considering preferences, and anticipating conversation. And we prepare for Sabbath in the same way. In order to rest in the presence of God, we think ahead and consider the ways we can make the time both meaningful and memorable.
Rest provides fine-tuning for hearing God’s messages amidst the static of life.
With each passing week, I practice Sabbath, and peace replaces unrest. The words of Isaiah become my comfort, “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength” (Isaiah 30:15 NLT).
Collect the epistles God is sending like a scribe poised with an open notebook, jotting down sacred echoes.
In the deep ravines of pain and suffering, repetition prevents derailing when going through dark periods.
The intent and truth of the Ten Commandments stand independent of time, shifting culture, and changing circumstances. God’s authority is complete, perfect, and unchangeable, which means nothing can be added, taken away, or edited regarding his intention about Sabbath.
Jesus extends an invitation to resist working one day a week for deepening relationship and protection from influences that pull us away from him. He gave the Sabbath in great love, knowing the weekly union will satiate a deep hunger for belonging. When we abide in Jesus, all our questions about how we Sabbath are answered in who we worship. How we Sabbath, though important, becomes a lower priority. What begins as a sacrifice of time becomes a willing surrender the more we choose it. We long for rest, and the Lord of the Sabbath longs for communion with us.
I believe it is of great significance that God begins the fourth commandment with the word remember, and also that he uses more words to convey this commandment than he does the other nine: 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
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God gave us Sabbath as a commandment, not so we could achieve his love, but to show us how deeply he already loves us.
we both agreed that God probably knew what he was doing when he made the Sabbath a commandment.
God invites you to rest because he loves who you are. When you abide with him in Sabbath, an unshakable confidence shines from the inside out, enticing others toward the gift of rest as well.
Sabbath is a time to transition from human doings to human beings. Matthew Sleeth, 24/6
God’s creation is a life-giving inhale for all of us, and Sabbath is the exhale. Without the exhale our breathing becomes shallow or nonexistent.
Sabbath is a life raft Jesus extends to us every week to prevent us from drowning in our work.
Before Moses is handed the stone tablets inscribed by God’s finger, God informs Moses about all the ways he is setting him up for success. Skilled workers filled with the Holy Spirit make everything from the Tent of Meeting, table and lamp stands, every detail thought out, down to the anointing oil and utensils. And then he tells Moses to communicate this one last thing. A detail not to be missed: “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy’” (Exodus 31:13).
Observing Sabbath is a sign to people of all generations that Jesus is Lord, Light in the darkness, Hope for chronic weariness, because he is the only way to salvation. He is Lord of the Sabbath and Lord of our lives, and so we no longer have to be self-reliant.
will you push past “self” vying for first place and trust him with your time, regardless of the outcome?
I suspect, as with most of life, it comes down to a need to be wanted/needed/useful/productive that comes out as busyness, and therefore my identity and security is not being centered fully in God.
And remember that God made the Sabbath for us because of love—more love than we can possibly imagine.
We get burnt out when we are trying to control things that are too big for us rather than keeping obedient in the daily and weekly “small things.”
How do we create time that is sacred in Sabbath-keeping? We make it different from the other six days of the week. The Sabbath remains holy even when we don’t choose to observe it.
this is different from a day off for leisure activity. Sabbath is a time with heightened awareness of God’s nearness, his presence with you. An expectancy and longing for intimacy in relationship like a couple who has been separated anticipating reunion.
Walk toward Sabbath instead of away from it.
Sabbath Revival? Let’s take back what the devil has stolen from us.
I was just thinking that whoever took the Sabbath away did these people such a disservice, and then this...
choosing rest over work is the ultimate act of brave trust in God’s sovereign hand upon creation. He is in charge of our minutes.
