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THE SABBATH
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One of the constant quotes in my life is "man, we are so busy." When Rachel and I sit down to think of our upcoming days / weeks / months, we often look ahead and see how much we have going on, not how much time we have. This is a drastic switch from periods in our life where all we could think about was "how bored we are" or how "I wish we had something to do" (reference the quotes / thoughts / statuses of most teenagers). And so, it became increasingly refreshing for us to have a night where we would share it together and not have anything to do. Thoughts like "I'm so glad we have nothing going on tonight" became a part of both of our lives.
It was then that we decided to try to make it a habit to have a true sabbath. Her and I each committed to make Saturday the day in which nothing relating to "work" would be done. We aren't trying to be Pharisees about it and weren't going to go the extend that some Jews have, but whatever we could do to be restful, we were going to make it happen.
This began to look like walks, trips to the park, lazy days on the couch, meals at home and cleaning, which has a surprising way of being restful when done as a family. It was interesting that as we did that, that I ran across the following verses in my yearly Bible reading:
Exodus 31:12-17 (ESV)
12 And the Lord said to Moses, 13 “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. 16 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. 17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ”
Exodus 35:1-3 (ESV)
1 Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do. 2 Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”
Leviticus 23:3 (ESV)
3 “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.
One of the immediate things you find is that to those who were working too hard, they would be put to death. I doubt that God is in the killing because of a lack of sabbath observance business anymore, but it's amazing to note what happens to those who work too hard. You wonder if when the LORD created the sabbath that He was setting a standard and we are carrying out the consequences now. One who does not observe the sabbath will "be cut off from his people" and "will be put to death." Thoughts of burnout and families suffering come to mind quickly over those who have not observed a sabbath and it serves as all too much of a reminder of how quickly one's life can get out of control (and needlessly might I say).
The amazing thing is that once we committed to it (and we are still in the process of living it out), how quickly and how refreshed we are at the end of the week. Saturday has quickly become one of my favorite days because I know ahead of time, it is going to be a day with my wife and the day will serve as a breath of fresh air to my otherwise hecktick week. Part of me seems to think that this is the way it was intended.
Don't but yourself to death by not giving yourself a day to breathe. If you arrange your days right, it is possible to get all your necessary work done ahead of time and have a day where you can give your mind, body and soul a rest. And it's good on this end.
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Now playing: Sigur Rós - Svo Hljótt
It was then that we decided to try to make it a habit to have a true sabbath. Her and I each committed to make Saturday the day in which nothing relating to "work" would be done. We aren't trying to be Pharisees about it and weren't going to go the extend that some Jews have, but whatever we could do to be restful, we were going to make it happen.
This began to look like walks, trips to the park, lazy days on the couch, meals at home and cleaning, which has a surprising way of being restful when done as a family. It was interesting that as we did that, that I ran across the following verses in my yearly Bible reading:
Exodus 31:12-17 (ESV)
12 And the Lord said to Moses, 13 “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. 16 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. 17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ”
Exodus 35:1-3 (ESV)
1 Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do. 2 Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”
Leviticus 23:3 (ESV)
3 “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.
One of the immediate things you find is that to those who were working too hard, they would be put to death. I doubt that God is in the killing because of a lack of sabbath observance business anymore, but it's amazing to note what happens to those who work too hard. You wonder if when the LORD created the sabbath that He was setting a standard and we are carrying out the consequences now. One who does not observe the sabbath will "be cut off from his people" and "will be put to death." Thoughts of burnout and families suffering come to mind quickly over those who have not observed a sabbath and it serves as all too much of a reminder of how quickly one's life can get out of control (and needlessly might I say).
The amazing thing is that once we committed to it (and we are still in the process of living it out), how quickly and how refreshed we are at the end of the week. Saturday has quickly become one of my favorite days because I know ahead of time, it is going to be a day with my wife and the day will serve as a breath of fresh air to my otherwise hecktick week. Part of me seems to think that this is the way it was intended.
Don't but yourself to death by not giving yourself a day to breathe. If you arrange your days right, it is possible to get all your necessary work done ahead of time and have a day where you can give your mind, body and soul a rest. And it's good on this end.
----------------
Now playing: Sigur Rós - Svo Hljótt
