Sabbath

I have recently started thinking about the Sabbath.  I mean, why is keeping this day holy, the only one of the Ten Commandments that we take as a suggestion?   The more I reflect on this, the more I feel convicted to move from intellectual pondering to passionate action.  I am coming to see that in squeezing the Sabbath to get more work done, I have cut myself off from God’s blessing.  Rest is something we all need as much as food or water.  And as part of God’s creation, we are designed to need a day of rest – not a stress-filled morning, rushing the family to church, and an afternoon focused on yard work and errands.   

      

So for the past several Sundays, my family and I have rested like God rested…and it was good.  We have taken long afternoon walks in the woods.  We have laughed at the funny way our baby chickens run around the yard.  We have sipped tea and munched on cookies.  We have taken turns on the tree swing and the hammock.  You might think, as I did before this rededication, that you do those things already – or similar things that give you relaxation.  But let me argue in this space, that devoting an entire day to family rest is totally different.

When the entire family rests together, for an entire day, there is a multiplying effect.  Everyone is relaxed at the same time, and this makes everyone more rested than they could be by themselves.  In the past, my rest or my wife’s rest has come at the expense of the other.  Rest has been a zero-sum game.  But God has promised that whatever we give to him – time, money, resources of any kind – he will give back to us in ways that exceed our imagination.  According to I Corinthians, 2:9, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” 

So make some time to rest this coming Sunday.  Set aside some money to give to worthy causes like Whetstone Boys Ranch, and really think about how you can use your gifts to serve God, your family and your fellow man.  You'll be glad you did.