Above all, Sabbath must be undertaken with great grace. Rigidity is not the solution. Whenever we see rigidity in the created realm, it is often a sign of death. As Gordon MacDonald writes, “There is no legalism here—rather a freedom to accept a gift. Frankly, I think some have destroyed the joy of Sabbath . . . by surrounding it with prescriptive laws and precedents. That is not our Sabbath. Our Sabbath was made for us, given to us by God. Its purpose is worship and restoration, and whatever it takes to make that happen, we will do.”32
