Since hearing a convicting sermon series on Sabbath when I was in High School, Sabbath has been an important spiritual discipline in my life.
Being the fourth of the Ten Commandments, Sabbath is crucial to our life with God. But how seriously do we take the day of rest? I’m currently listening to an audiobook called 24/6 by Matthew Sleeth. He calls our culture a 24/7 culture and beckons Christians to reclaim the Sabbath.
From Adele Ahlberg Calhoun’s Handbook on Spiritual Disciplines:
Sabbath
Desire: to set apart one day a week for rest and worship of God
Definition: Sabbath is God’s gift of repetitive and regular rest. It is given for our delight and communion with God. Time for being in the midst of a life of doing particularly characterizes Sabbath.
Scripture:
“Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it… So then, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God; for those who enter God’s rest also cease from their labors as God did from his. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs” (Hebrews 4:1, 9-11).
“The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27).
Remember the sabbath day, and 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; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it” (Exodus 20:8-11)
Practice Includes:
- Setting aside time for intimacy with God and others you love
- Resting in God one day per week
- Practicing restful activities: walks, picnics, a Sunday afternoon nap, a phone visit with someone you love, tea or coffee with a friend, family time, games with your kids
- Letting go of things that stress you out for twenty-four hours
- Letting the difficult conversations happen another day
- Not developing a to-do list for Sunday (or whatever day you choose for Sabbath)
- Refraining from competition that moves you into a bad place
God-Given Fruit:
- Keeping company with Jesus through the sabbath
- Freedom from the addiction to busyness, rush and hurry
- Acknowledging your human limits and living within them
- Honoring the way God created you by living a healthy and intentionally rested life
- Living a weekly rhythm of rest followed by six days of work
- Delighting in God, family, the seasons, meals and all good gifts of creation
- Trusting God for all that you’re not doing or taking care of on your sabbath day
I would encourage you all to seriously consider implementing or improving your sabbath keeping. It’s not a suggestion, it is a commandment. It’s not an option, it is vital. There are many books about sabbath keeping and resting. Let me know if you’d like a suggestion!
Rest well.
Pastor Drew's Desk 
I enjoyed reading your article about keeping the Sabbath. For many years First Presby. supported The Lord’s Day League (Roger Kvam was active in it). I am thankful that my parents believed in keeping the sabbath a wonderful part of the week. I found a website called Purely Presbyterian — maybe you know about it. There is a good article by John Calvin about keeping the sabbath. I’m thankful for all you are doing – so nice to be able to see the Sunday Service. Praying that we will be able to get back together — although we do not want to rush things along. Enjoyed your sermon last Sunday — Nurses are special people — when George was hospitalized they were always willing to go the extra mile to make him comfortable. Sometimes I wished that his Drs. would not rush out of the room so quickly without a kind word or thought. I would have liked to study nursing had my family the means to send me to college — but as I tended to George he would often say “You should have been a Nurse instead of working as a Secretary in a Boston bank.
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