More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between
January 19 - March 16, 2019
Sabbath as a rhythm of life changes the questions of life from how to who. Sabbath is a weekly reminder that God cares more about who you are than what you do.
If we do not allow for a rhythm of rest in our overly busy lives, illness becomes our Sabbath—our pneumonia, our cancer, our heart attack, our accidents create Sabbath for us. Wayne Muller, Sabbath
We can interpret interruptions as roadblocks to peace or as moments for deepening relationship, trusting in the path God dictates.
There are two kinds of brokenness—voluntary and involuntary. Alan Nelson describes voluntary brokenness as the kind that allows God to do whatever he wants with us. Involuntary brokenness, on the other hand, comes as the uninvited guest of difficulty—divorce, job loss, death, chronic illness, the trauma of a car accident: You can choose one of three responses when involuntary brokenness comes your way. You can rebel and grow bitter. You can gradually give in under constant nagging and increased pressure. Or you can respond positively to it and mature. In essence, you can go through it, or you
...more
Sabbath-keeping isn’t a magic formula we follow in order to attain preferred outcomes, but a recognition of God’s sovereignty over the minutes.
“So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation” (Genesis 2:3 ESV). The seventh day remains holy regardless of where we find ourselves, regardless of feelings about time and space. Sabbath remains holy and set apart because he is holy, different, other than. How did I miss this for decades?
In the book of Ezekiel, he spells it out clearly: “I gave them . . . my ‘Sabbaths,’ a kind of signpost erected between me and them to show them that I, God, am in the business of making them holy” (Ezekiel 20:11–12 MSG).
God gives all of us Sabbath as a sign of covenant between us, a reminder that He is Lord of who we are and all that we possess. Sabbath is love written large, declaring God is good; he remembers the promises between us.
Sabbath comes, ready or not. It arrives like an old friend quietly knocking on the door, asking if you’d like to come out and play for the day, and my childlike response each week has been a resounding yes! I not only need the break and the rest, but my soul demands it. I am worth my time. My relationships with God and others are far better off if I am committed to meeting my own needs. Sabbath allows for this. The God and Creator of the universe deems me worthy of rest, and I relish in it.
This is not about doing rest; this is about being loved for doing nothing!
Sabbath stilling is an intimate pause declaring “I love you” in response to the myriad different ways he’s communicated love to us during the other six days of the week.
In the seasons of life beholden by limitations, rest seems an impossibility unless we approach time with faith and trust—faith that God’s commandment to remember the Sabbath and keep the day holy isn’t exclusive language. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding” (Psalm 111:10 ESV). Choose to believe that repentance and rest is your salvation, “in quietness and in trust shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15).
Sabbath isn’t about resting perfectly; it’s about resting in the One who is perfect.
Sabbath is God patting his lap, and saying, ‘Come up here,’ like a father does with his children. I am ever more eager to scramble into God’s safety and burrow down for a few brief hours.”
“My heart is learning that the important things are completed without constant work and effort. I am learning to rest in the Lord’s timing and bask in his presence. And his reward is an inner calm and security that people are beginning to notice.”
whatever makes the day feel special to you, makes it feel special to God. On Sabbath, what matters most is that the details are different than the other six days of the week. We think about how we can bless others by being fully present and we cultivate community with meaningful acts of joy.
Choices about how I celebrate are limited when I don’t plan ahead. But when I prepare, Sabbath is loaded with beautiful color, texture, and saturated with the oil of gladness. And I’m full and contented when my time to rest is over. Like a good meal shared with a friend, I don’t want the time to end, and I can’t wait until the next time we meet together.
What comes into our minds when we think about God is really the most important thing about us. A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy
Striving and a lack of rest in body, soul, and mind ultimately results in a tormented life. But God provides rescue in the next verse: “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus” (14:12 ESV).
How do we endure? How do we quiet our mind? How do we achieve peace in the midst of upheavals in life? We keep the commandments of God, and the result is a wholehearted life. It seems so simple, but his precepts really are trustworthy.
When I approach the fourth commandment as a suggestion, I am not responding in the fear of the Lord.
Sabbath is a holy writ—his love letter to us once a week. When we believe him by obeying the commandment of Sabbath, his face shines upon us the same way it did on Moses. And everyone notices the brightness. He is asking you to remember the Sabbath. Will you?
God cares about the details, because in the details, he reveals the depth of his love for us.
If your view of Sabbath was shaped by legalism, dispel some of those myths by sharing them with someone you trust. Pray that God will begin to shape a new understanding about Sabbath in a way that is personally life-giving for you.
Multitasking isn’t one of my strengths, but distraction and I are best buddies.
