4 STEPS TO RECOVER YOUR SABBATH

God Created Us for 24-Hours of Rest Every Seven Days

An endless stream of information is at our fingertips, giving us around-the-clock access to a world that never stops. Our minds and bodies were not created for that kind of non-stop stimulation. God gave us Sabbath to bring proper balance to life. Sabbath could save your life.

finding rest

 

Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.” (Deut. 5:12-14a)

 

A World of Fatigue

New research out of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden shows that the light from TV and computer screens affects melatonin production and melanopsin stimulation, and throws off our circadian rhythms. This interrupts or prevents deep, restorative sleep, causing an increase in stress and depressive symptoms. The study shows that regular, late night computer use was associated with sleep disorders, stress and depressive symptoms in both men and women. 1

God’s command for a Sabbath rest has never been more relevant.

The command to observe Sabbath is the fourth of the ten commandments – the coveted “clean-up” spot in the line-up. And, it’s the longest of the commandments. God uses sparse language to forbid murder, theft, and adultery, but he gets very chatty when it comes to keeping the Sabbath.

Why is it so important to him? Because Sabbath could, literally, save your life.

 

Sabbath as a Gift from God

God created us for six days of work and one day of rest. And when we go against the user instruction manual something is bound to blow up.

Jesus was devoted to Sabbath (Lk. 4:16), and always fought against the rules that distorted the original intent of Sabbath (Lk. 6:1-11). Jesus saw Sabbath as a gift from God.

 

TWO Things Jesus Said About Sabbath

1.People are more important than rules.

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mk. 2:27).

The Sabbath’s identity got all wrapped up in the definition of work, and so the elders had to create an endless set of rules on what constituted work. Once work was identified, it was forbidden on Sabbath. No excuses, no exceptions.

The rules became an end to themselves, as they invariably do.

Jesus said – rules were created to serve people, not the other way around. In other words, when the rules start to kill the real purpose, throw out the rules.

2. The Sabbath is for healing.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath” (Lk. 6:7).

The Sabbath was created to be life-giving. God gave the Sabbath as a time to stop working, delight in Him, and connect with Him in the midst of a chaotic world.

In his book Replenish, Lance Witt offers four questions to help us observe Sabbath as a natural part of life.

 

FOUR Steps to Recover Your Sabbath

1. PREPARE: What does it take to prepare for Sabbath?

One prepares for the Sabbath all week. In Hebrew the days of the week do not have names; they are all a launch pad for Shabbat. Sunday is the first day, Monday the second, and so on until Friday, which is both the sixth day and ‘the eve of Shabbat.’” 2

There is a specific preparation for Sabbath observance.

They had to cook meals ahead of time. They had to bring in the animals from the field. They had to have wood chopped, water pulled from the well – whatever might be considered work. They couldn’t do it on Saturday, so they had to figure out a way to do it on Friday or wait until Sunday.

First Step – Prepare for Sabbath by placing it on your calendar.

2. STOP: What does it look like to stop for 24 hours?

If you don’t take a Sabbath, something is wrong. You’re doing too much, you’re being too much in charge. You’ve got to quit, one day a week, and just watch what God is doing when you’re not doing anything.” — Eugene H. Peterson

What do you stop? Work. Thoughts. Conversation. Noise. Sabbath requires that you be fully present to the experience. You have to stop living in one world so that you can escape to another.

First Step – Unplug from all electronics.

3. DELIGHT: What kinds of things are life-giving?

Shabbat is more than just a day off from labor. It is a day of physical and spiritual delights that is meant to illuminate certain key concepts in the traditional Jewish perception of the world.” 3

Sabbath was built on the idea that six days of hard work takes something out of you – especially in the days of Jesus when 98% of the work meant hard, physical labor. That kind of work takes something out of you. It tends to be life-shortening.

So, on Sabbath, they did something life-giving – for them that meant no more hard-labor. It also meant family, Torah reading, and worship.

What fills you? What brings you delight?

First Step – Discover the activities that bring you delight.

4. WORSHIP: How can you connect with God in meaningful ways?

It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late, and work your worried fingers to the bone. Don’t you know he enjoys giving rest to those he loves?” (Psalm 127:2, MSG)

God wants to give you supernatural rest — the kind of rest you will never get from a vacation. On Sabbath you can catch up on your sleep and do things that bring a sense of fulfillment, but only when you connect to God in worship will you find replenishment for your soul.

First Step — Show up to worship God with your faith community.

 

TAKE TIME TO OBSERVE SABBATH THIS WEEK!