Sabbath

Something that we practice while on the race is Sabbath rest: a day set aside with no work. This is something that I haven’t put into practice and am still growing in. What I do know is that after six days of creating, God rested. The Bible says that “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it [he] rested from all his work that he had done in creation” (Gen. 2:3, ESV). I believe that God, being who he is and how deeply he cares for humanity, does not need rest but that he created a day of rest for us. God knows us better than we know ourselves, and he knew that we would need rest to live fruitful lives.

The Sabbath is meant to be a gift given to us by God, not a burden. During Jesus’ time, the people were very careful to do no work on the Sabbath, which made keeping the Sabbath a burden. They had many regulations about what was lawful and unlawful to do on the Sabbath. One Sabbath, as Jesus walked through a grainfield, his disciples were plucking the heads of grain. The Pharisees were upset by this because it was unlawful to do so on the Sabbath. Jesus responded to them by telling them, “‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath'” (Mk. 2:23-27). God intended the Sabbath to be a gift of rest, not a burden of keeping laws. 

Now that I better understand Sabbath, I have noticed it more in the passages I’m reading. I recently read Hebrews, which says, “There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest also rested from his works as God did from his” (Heb. 4:9-10, ESV). We are not above God. God rested, but we refuse to take one day a week to rest. As the passage says, god rested; so we will too. The passage continues to say, “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience” (Heb. 4:11, ESV). We have been commanded by God to rest, so let us be obedient to him and strive to enter into the rest of the Sabbath. Let us strive to receive the gift of Sabbath rest. 

Currently, I am reading Ezekiel for the first time. As I was reading chapter 20, I noticed a theme of obedience and keeping the Sabbath, which God gave to us. It’s written that God gave us his statutes and rules, so that we can find life in obeying them (Ezek. 20:11, ESV). As I mentioned previously, the Sabbath is not meant to be a burden but a gift. Obedience to God is not a burden but a gift that leads us into life. In obeying God and his commands, we can step into fuller life. We have been asked to “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” so we will find life in doing so (Exod. 20:8, ESV). 

I mentioned at the beginning of this post that Sabbath rest is something new to me. I have learned about Sabbath, but always failed to keep it. I didn’t value rest or obey God; instead, I told myself I was too busy and had better things to do than rest. Because I have never rested for a full day, I am still learning how to rest well. The first time I rested for Sabbath, I found that at the end of the day, I felt like I had wasted the entire day because I hadn’t done anything productive. I am still growing in this area and learning to be okay with not achieving things in the day. 

I am still trying to figure out what makes me feel rested by the end of the day because doing nothing makes me feel more tired. So far, Sabbaths have been card games, laying in the sun, attempting to read, lizard watching, cleaning my tent, walks, reading Scripture, warm showers, and playing Webkinz. Sabbath isn’t about doing nothing but about spending the day in a way that makes you feel rested and ready to represent God well the rest of the week. What are some things that help you feel rested?

While practicing Sabbath is new to me, and I am still learning to rest well, each week, I look forward to it a little more. Each week, I grow in seeing the Sabbath as a gift. I am excited to continue to keep the Sabbath, and see how I grow and what I learn. I encourage you to start practicing Sabbath. At first, it may be hard, but God desires us to enter into his rest. I can count on one hand the number of times I have practiced Sabbath, but I want to step into obedience and discover the life that God has for me in doing so. 

Thank you, God, for the gift of Sabbath.