Celebrating the sabbath provides room for our soul to breathe, to think, to dream, to heal, to repent, to forgive, and to savor the mercies that are crafted for us by our Creator. I’m a natural busy body and it’s taken me effort to slow my roll and embrace simple moments.
The sabbath was part of the plan. Seen by God after he created the world and its inhabitants for six days, and in Jewish history, giving a break to everyone for rest and worship, even to the slaves of Israel (Exodus 20), we can see it plays a central role to sustain us in this life. I’m not talking sit on your rump all day and binge watch on Netflix, although that has it’s time and place. It’s more than a cessation of labor, it’s a time for joy, celebration, rest, and worship in ways that connect us to Jesus. Leviticus 23 even points to a time of feasting, free from fasting, to enjoy the bounty provided in this life. Sabbath invites us to unplug from the everyday, the constancy of life that can make our hearts grow weary. Sabbath has meant many different things to me over the years but I think as I get older I’m getting a clearer picture of what sabbath means for me and why it’s so vitally important.
In a world where we are GO GO GO, it is obedience to stop, to celebrate, and to connect with Christ. As he longs for my life, and I long for his presence, it can be found hidden in my sabbath moments. It can look like a plate of spring rolls devoured at my kitchen table on a warm summer evening, with the kid’s playing outside, as I chat with a friend about the mysteries of Jesus. It can be on a walk, pushing the stroller up and down the hills of the neighborhood while pouring out my soul and accepting his refreshment. It can be tucked in the corner my soul while perched on a pew as sweet melodies fill the air, surrounded by others seeking to connect with the Holy One.
Formerly a social institution of rest, worship, and festivity turned into a national religious observation, the sabbath was and is intended to be a time to rend our hearts to Jesus, finding ourselves in awe of his grace. It serves as a reminder of his sanctification, his cleansing of Israel, the chosen people, and us. We are chosen, set apart for his love, his peace, and his mercy. We dance in the freedom of Jesus when we, on our sabbath days, seek and embrace him.
Mark Buchanan writes in his book, The Rest of God,
“In a culture where busyness is a fetish and stillness is laziness, rest is sloth. But without rest, we miss the rest of God: the rest he invites us to enter more fully so that we might know him more deeply. “Be still, and know that I am God.” Some knowing is never pursued, only received. And for that, you need to be still. Sabbath is both a day and an attitude to nurture such stillness. It is both time on a calendar and a disposition of the heart. It is a day we enter, but just as much a way we see. Sabbath imparts the
rest of God—actual physical, mental, spiritual rest, but also the rest of God— the things of God’s nature and presence we miss in our busyness.”
When you wash in the water of sabbath moments, I pray anxiety and fear melt away. I pray your strength is restored, your aches and pains soothed, and your soul refreshed to walk in the fullness, the grace and obedience, set for you. May it be so.
