Last year, I had a wonderful experience with the spiritual discipline of Sabbath. Now, at this time last year, I probably couldn't really tell you what it meant to practice Sabbath in my life and might've even told you it was not important or irrelevant. I may have told you that it gets taken care of when we go to church. I learned a lot about Sabbath within the past year and most of my initial thoughts weren't exactly on track.
The 3rd commandment (in the Lutheran numbering) is "Remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy." This commandment wasn't just some rule for the Israelites to follow, but it was command God put in place so that He would have time with His children. And ya know what? He still wants to spend time with them! That fact has not changed a bit!
Okay, so take a look at your week. If your family and friends were asked if they could tell what day was set aside to spend time with your God and take a break, would they be able to? I know that just a few months ago I would say "no" with gusto. Even when I was at worship, I was "working." My friends rarely saw me and I was staying up late and getting up early to get things done. And ya know what? It was awful.
When I started internship, I told myself that I needed to have a Sabbath day that was protected. I needed to do my best to protect that day from any sort of work, meetings, planning, and anything that wasn't something I "had" to do. I could run errands on my Sabbath because I enjoy doing that--it's fun to me! I could sit by the pool, hang out with friends, be in God's Word, or sleep in without feeling guilty at all. This is what my Sabbath has been. It's tough and takes planning ahead and diligence, but it's important for my mental, social, and spiritual health. Not to mention, if I don't rest, I will get burned out.
So today, we were looking at schedules to plan a meeting. Friday was suggested, but I actually spoke up to protect it. I was surprised at myself, but I've seen what good has come out of keeping my Sabbath holy. That Sabbath mentality carries through the rest of the week and I'm more focused and at peace. One of the other people at the meeting mentioned that they don't have a day of rest and one of their days off (Sunday) is spent at church, teaching. The conversation continued in that direction and I began to feel guilty about my "untouchable" day. I almost said, "it's okay, let's do Friday." Then I remembered all that I had experienced in learning about Sabbath throughout the last year. I nearly suffocated in business and life--I honestly was so unhealthy that it was getting out of control. I still get tempted, however, to be so incredibly and irresponsibly busy. I need down time--time to enjoy life and enjoy God. It's so easy for me to feel guilty about not doing enough as I see others be soo busy, but I had to remind myself that, that's what I've worked so hard to get out of. It is my job as a church professional to set an example of Christian living and to show people what it means to practice wellness. Even my pastor reminded me of that last week when I was about to run to church for a quick church task last Friday. He stopped me and told me to let it be--it wasn't that important to interrupt God's day.
Sabbath rest is a beautiful thing--it's something I want to maintain and has taken me a long time to adopt. I can tell you, though, I honestly couldn't do ministry and wouldn't want to do ministry without Sabbath rest.
I challenge you...take the break that God has blessed you with in His 3rd commandment. See if your family can recognize your Sabbath day--spend it with them. I pray that you dive deep into this practice and are richly blessed by it.
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