Sabbath.
The word gets thrown around pretty easily. I see it often in blog posts, in my inbox and in Scripture. Somewhere in the course of my life, I seemed to have let myself slide into thinking it meant going to church on Sundays.
But as of late, I am coming to realize it truly means so much more.
Sabbath > “the seventh day of the week, as the day of rest and religious observance among Jews and some Christians; any special day of prayer or rest resembling the Sabbath; any special day of prayer or rest” (dictionary.com).
Sabbath, or the Hebrew word “sabbat”, actually means to stop or to cease. When we take time to stop working, we display an act of trust that it is God holding everything together and not us. We acknowledge our hands do not need to be in everything at every single moment in time.
“Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. Then the Lord will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the Lord, have spoken!” (Isaiah 58:13-14, NLT)
As I read this Scripture, I wrote in the margin of my Bible – “Keeping the Sabbath –> reward” :
- “The Lord will be your delight.”
- “I will give you great honor.”
- “I will satisfy you.”
OK, if I’m honest, I like those rewards. But somehow I skipped over the part of what one must do to obtain those rewards 🙂 So I backed up a verse to get the full picture ….
- “Keep the Sabbath day holy.” Set a day apart to God – to think about Him, to worship Him, to hear His Word.
- “Don’t pursue your own interests on that day.” Keep a day off from work. Your body, soul and spirit will be most grateful.
- “Enjoy the Sabbath.” May the day you set aside become a day of delight for you. May you look forward to the time you spend with Him.
- “Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day.” My mind curiously changed this to … If it doesn’t honor Him on that day then don’t do it. That is one way to keep from activity on the Sabbath.
- “Don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.” Both will lead us away from resting in Him.
Sabbath doesn’t come easily as we are so programmed to doing, going, and keeping busy. We fall into the trap of thinking these define productivity and perhaps they do in many ways. Yet in order to keep on being productive, we need time to get rest and be renewed.
Keeping the Sabbath will bring me to resting in Him.
Keeping the Sabbath —> reward.
Today I am joining … Thought Provoking Thursday and Everyday Jesus .
I read somewhere recently that Sabbath is about rest, refreshment, and remembering. Now you’ve given me a 4th R word to add to my definition. 🙂
I love that all four definitions start with R. Going to write each of those down myself!
“Keeping the Sabbath will bring me to resting in Him…Keeping the Sabbath —> reward.”
Lord, may I do your will so that I can claim my reward…
Thank you for sharing this Friend…part reminder/part eye-opening. 🙂
Yolanda, it always amazes me how a reminder can also bring a new thought. May we always continue to learn. Hope you are having a good week!
This is so thoughtful. I was reading about Sabbath somewhere recently (as you said, it IS everywhere!), and their point was that the Sabbath mindset should infuse our whole week; i.e. we don’t live at break neck pace for 6 days and then slam on the brakes for Sunday. Trusting God, taking ourselves out of the center of the universe, resting in His promises: all these disciplines lead to a Sabbath-keeping mindset.
Also, really like the “R”‘s, Lyli. I can keep that in my head!
Michele, I too loved the “R”s Lyli shared. I now have them written down in my journal. So good to learn from each other. Blessings!
I found this post so edifying! I’m sure I’ve read Isaiah 58:13-14 many times, but the NLT version you shared really jumped out at me like I was seeing it for the first time!
I especially liked the following insight you shared, “When we take time to stop working, we display an act of trust that it is God holding everything together and not us. We acknowledge our hands do not need to be in everything at every single moment in time.”
I’m so glad I visited!
Isn’t it amazing how the wording from a different version can fall so new! Learning to rest in Him so means letting go of control and trusting Him. So glad you shared your thoughts!
I think there are so many things that God asks of us that are so full of benefit and blessing for us…if we’ll only heed what He says!
Elizabeth, you are so right. And the thing is, most times, we don’t see the benefit UNTIL we obey & just heed. Oh that I would learn & remember this! Blessings~
Great thought that Sabbath leads to reward. When I take the time for Sabbath – to rest and delight in God – He does reward me with a renewed and refreshed soul. I come away more connected with God and reenergized with His energy source to go back out and keep stepping forward in whatever lies before me.
Isn’t it amazing how much reward comes from Sabbath, Kathryn. And we so struggle with just being still & resting in Him. But I’m starting to realize how important this is more & more. Blessings!
Ah, Joanne– this is so practical, especially for this going-doing gal! I answered the call to ministry 4 years ago this coming July (what? Already!?!) and I vividly remember how about a year in I found myself worshipping the task instead of the One who created the task– because I was working right through the Sabbath, 7 days a week.
I used to dread Sunday/Sabbath day because really, this whole stopping and resting thing stressed me out. Now, I anticipate them– they are favorite day and sometime I wish everyday was a Sabbath! Thanks for sharing your insights– I love it!
The thing which hits me is we think keeping the Sabbath – stopping to rest – means we are doing nothing at all. But ‘resting’ is still an action word & more vital to our well being than we realize.