Remember the Sabbath. Sounds pretty simple. And yet it is the longest of the ten commandments – 98 words based on the NKJV. God must have anticipated that we’d mess it up, and gave it more ink than any of the others. There is no ambiguity. The instruction is clear, we are to observe a day of physical rest from our work.
I’ve read some incredible books the past four years in my journey toward rest and life balance, written by some brilliant authors who teach about Sabbath rest. I’m not going to debate which day, or the argument that Jesus is our ultimate rest, and the whole idea of not working for our salvation that Jesus did it all. I get it, and I understand. But that does not negate the call to, or the need for physical rest. What I don’t understand is, why do we resist rest?
Ours is a world of restless hearts, restless minds, restless spirits and restless bodies. It was Saint Augustine who said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Rest goes back to God Himself in Genesis 2:2 “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which God had created and made.” In fact, this account in Genesis is referenced in Exodus 20:11 as the foundation of the fourth commandment.
The Jewish leaders had made the Sabbath anything but restful with all their rules and regulations. It was like reading the IRS tax code. Instead of the Sabbath being a delight the leaders made it a drudgery.
Along comes Jesus, oh how the scribes and Pharisees loathed Him, and sets them straight. First, He says in Matthew 12:8 He is the Lord of the Sabbath and then in Mark 2:27-28 He says both that the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath, and that He is Lord of the Sabbath. He sets their system on its head. It’s interesting three times Jesus supposedly violates the Sabbath. On the third time while in the synagogue he restores the man with the withered hand. They were trying to set Him up and trap Jesus to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. Notice Jesus’ answer He responds, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath?
Interesting, when Israel wandered in the dessert for 40 years, while gathering manna each morning they were instructed to gather enough for each day, but on the 6th day they gathered twice as much. That’s because they observed the Sabbath on the 7th day.
Remember when Israel was in exile and taken away into captivity for 70 years. Why 70? Because they had violated the Sabbath command to let the land lie fallow (and rest) every 7th year. They violated it 70 straight times!
I’m still getting used to Sabbath rest, establishing a rhythm, embracing and enjoying my time each week. It is a time to reflect, recover, refresh, relax, and rest. Over time I’ll share some of the practices that I have begun along the way that I hope will be of encouragement to you.
But for now, rather than being like the religious leaders of Jesus’s day and putting a bunch “rules together” for you to follow, I invite you to first recognize and wrestle through your need for rest. Study the Scriptures, pray, and begin to explore, and experiment with your own journey toward rest.
The Rest Stop 
Leave a comment