Modern life has a pace, in which everything works against slowing down. It rudely intrudes into the space that God gives us to rejuvenate and heal. Our children’s athletics, instant connectivity to work-centric text-messaging, e-mail, and social media, and dozens of other factors create a pace, where we never stop.
I’ll admit that as as a pastor, coach, and head of a missions non-profit, taking a day of rest can seem counterintuitive. However, I also believe that God’s principle of Sabbath includes a supernatural release of rest, healing, and restoration. Even though the law of the Sabbath may have with passed with Christ’s coming, so much of Jesus’ ministry happened against the backdrop of that period of the week that we should take notice of those events and learn from them.
In the Jewish understanding, 6 days of the week served as workdays, but the Sabbath reminded people of their limitations. As much as they could accomplish, engineer, and produce, energy and health had limits. Even an infinite God, who never sleeps or gets tired, rested after 6 days of bringing forth the beauty of creation.
Jesus and the Sabbath
By the time of the New Testament, this one intentional day for delight and refreshment became a day dominated by man made rules and traditions and burdensome by forcing on people another kind of work – the works of religion. Against this particular backdrop, Jesus reclaimed the meaning of the Sabbath with much of the focus of His ministry taking place on that specific time of the Jewish week.
In fact, the Gospel of Mark pairs what appears to be two successive Sabbath’s (Mark 2:23-3:6) in which Jesus ministered and reframed the principle of rest and blessing. In the first encounter, He and the disciples nourished themselves from the edges of a grain field. In the second encounter, Jesus meets a man with an atrophied hand. Those 2 encounters bookend Jesus’ message in Mark 2:27: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”
Think about the man that met Jesus in the synagogue. He could have had a degenerative condition that got worse over time; perhaps nerve damage from an injury. We might assume his injury wasn’t life-threatening, but it was serious and it left him incapable of work.Had he been a stone mason, a carpenter, a fisherman, a farmer? Here’s a man who would have difficulty earning a living to provide for himself and for his family. Nevertheless, his observance of the Sabbath made for an encounter with Jesus.
Jesus simply invited him to stretch out his hand and as he did, Jesus restored it as whole as the other. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other (Mark 3.5).
Everybody present could see it. His hand took perfect shape and became fully functional.
We weren’t made to serve the Sabbath. The Sabbath was God’s gift to us. God intends to release life, healing, and restoration in our “Sabbath-ing” as it honors Him.
Let’s think about practicing Sabbath as other exercises of spirituality. What is spirituality? It’s what we do devotionally to honor the Lord and build up new life in Him. It comprises our spiritual disciplines or practices. Some are public and corporate. Some are practiced personally and privately.
- Forms of Prayer: corporate, hour prayer, breath prayer, prayer walking, etc
- Bible Reading / Devotions
- Practicing Rest – Sabbath
- Fasting
- Worship
- Giving or Tithing / Stewardship
- Spiritual Gifts
- Reflection / Silence / Meditation
As Christians, who practice the principle of tithing in our personal stewardship, our family gives at least the first of our increase to the Lord. Our faith operates on this conviction: Father God, we believe that You will bless the 90% of our increase more in our lives than if we keep the 100% for ourselves. If you honor the Lord with tithing, you may relate to that experience.
Now consider that same pattern in principle of Sabbath rest. It’s not a requirement for salvation (and neither is tithing). However it is honoring and practicing a principle of God’s word in an act of faith. When I pattern my week on this principle, my faith states: Father, I believe that my life is more blessed, when I honor You in a day of rest, than if I keep all 7 days to myself to work and be productive.
Consider this thought by Wayne Muller …
“Sabbath is not dependent upon our readiness to stop. We do not stop when we are finished. We do not stop when we complete our phone calls, finish our project, get through this stack of messages, or get out this report. We stop because it is time to stop. Sabbath requires surrender. If we only stop when we are finished with all our work, we will never stop—because our work is never completely done.”
Sabbath is rhythm of life that we begin, by stopping.
The story of that man in the synagogue reminds me of my old friend, John. John and his wife, Margaret, were beloved members of our church family for many years. Before retirement, he was involved in commercial construction and a project manager. He also served on the board of our church during a pivotal time when we needed to manage and grade our property after a big timber harvest. He was a much needed resource of godly wisdom in our decision-making. There were 15 acres of hardwood stumps and lots of cleanup and John managed all of the cleanup and the seeding of the newly cleared land. However, before that project ever happened – during those years of heavy construction – he tore a rotator cuff in one of his shoulders and continued working to the point that there was not enough worn tissue to repair and restore movement. He continued working to retirement and beyond with a limited range of motion.
After one of our Sunday evening worship nights – just an unhurried time of singing, prayer, and exercising spiritual gifts, John approached me to share that the Lord healed him supernaturally during the service. There was no invitation for healing prayer that night, but he encountered the loving presence of Jesus in a powerful way. He told me, “Pastor I love to worship God, but for the last several years I couldn’t lift my right hand in praise above my chest, until tonight.” And he lifted his right hand above his slowly, but surely above his head! He said, “Just as we were worshiping, I felt the Lord’s touch – don’t even know how to describe it – but He touched me and now I can praise Him and raise both hands!”
God releases life-giving blessing as we honor Him in our spirituality.
If you come overworked, find rest. If you come broken, find wholeness. If you come confused, find counsel. If you come hungry, be filled. If you come sin-stained and convicted, be forgiven, be cleansed! If you come broken or sick in body, be healed! If that is God’s promised provision, how often do you enter into it in your own life?
How could we practice the principle of Sabbath?
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- Remember that Sabbath is an act of worship and devotion and a provision of God’s blessing for you.
- Plan a 24 Hour Sabbath, preferably evening to evening – God created it for you!
- Awake gently to your sabbath day without an alarm. Let your body wake naturally. Thank God for the gift of the day before you.
- Plan devotional reading and prayer. Take prayer walks. Invite God’s healing, rest, and restoration.
- Practice restful activities, such as walks, a nap, visit with someone you love, tea or coffee with a friend, family time, games with your kids, and quality time with spouse
- Let go of things that stress you out for 24 hours. Leave difficult conversations for another day. DO NOT make to-do lists.
- At bedtime, reflect on Christ’s blessing and provision in your life. Give thanks. Let yourself fall asleep naturally.
**Sabbath Guide draws from some of the great insights found in a fantastic resource, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun.
Download a PDF copy of this guide.
Reflect on Your Spirituality Experience
- What spiritual exercises do you find that nourish your soul’s relationship with God?
- What spiritual disciplines interest you enough to look into them further?
- What difficulties or compulsions compete with your ability to rest or plan a Sabbath-styled day of resting?
- What happens to you when you go without regular rhythms that allow you to rest and rejuvanate?
- What do you do that you find nourishing and replenishing in your own life?