Sabbath: Learning to Linger in the Presence of God
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11 ESV
Last week we looked at how God rested on the seventh day after six days of work. On the seventh day, He made the Sabbath Holy, establishing a rhythm of six days of work and one day of rest into the fabric of creation. Today we will consider three ways in which keeping the Sabbath helps us to be more present in the moment with God.
First, the Sabbath provides us with the gift of rest. Rest from the work God has given us - even from work we love and feel called to do. The fourth of the ten commandments tells us to "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11)
In these verses, God points back to the Creation account, reminding the Israelites and us of His rhythm of six days of work and one day of rest. The Israelites had just come out of 400+ years of slavery, where they were given no opportunity to rest, worship, and delight in God. J. Ellsworth Kalas said, “the sabbath commandment gave the Israelites a new estimate of themselves - indeed, a surprising status of dignity.” And like the Israelites, “this day is God’s gift to our human race, a jewel fashioned by a loving Lord. It is holy by nature: we are privileged to keep it holy by the manner in which we enjoy it.”(1)
Second, the Sabbath creates a rhythm of trust in the goodness of God. Jeremiah 17:7 declares, "blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord." Observing the Sabbath is a weekly reminder that Jesus is God and we are not. In practice, this truth gives us the freedom to stop and rest, trusting that our world will carry on just fine without our contribution. For trust to grow, we must be willing to give up control of the outcome of our lives as we submit to God's will.
Finally, the Sabbath reminds us that Christ is holding it all together (see Colossians 1:17). In his letter to the Colossian church, Paul speaks to the supremacy of Christ. Christ "is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation" (Colossians 1:15 NRSV), and He was "with God in the beginning." (John 1:2). Christ's supremacy gives us freedom from the tyranny of 24/7 productivity that we so often mistakenly allow to define our value.
A wise friend once shared these words with me. "Our refusal to take rest on the Sabbath is a reflection on the fact that we don't feel valuable unless we're productive. Although we might not recognize it or admit it, our sense of worth often comes from what we do. It's hard to just sit in that and do nothing and know that we're loved. What a gift the Sabbath is!"
The gift of Sabbath rest, trust in God's goodness, and the truth that Christ is holding it all together allow us to be more present in the moment with God. Sabbath provides our soul an opportunity to linger in the presence of God.
Notes: (1) J. Ellsworth Kalas, The Ten Commandments from the Back Side, pg. 46,52
OnThe3rdDay Devotionals
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