February 2nd, 2023 - Sabbath Day, Best Day

Pause:
Good Morning. Today we pause to reflect on the gift of a Sabbath rest given to us by our God. In light of this gift of rest, take a moment to pause and resist the temptation to hurry. Commit the next few moments to just be with God and rest in His power, strength, and love. 

Consider what resting in the Lord looks like for you? Consider what it might look like to rest in the Lord as a family or community. 

Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of Sabbath. Would you teach us today how to live a life that is set apart and reflects our belonging to you. 

Reflect:
Are there practices in your life that make you love Jesus more, or that cause you to delight in His presence? Maybe it’s being outside, or  eating good food with friends. Maybe it’s spending time in His Word or worshiping with a Church family.. What if I told you that God has called His people to set aside a time weekly that allows us to do just that? 

Today we explore the gift of Sabbath. And that is just what it is. A gift. The best day of the week. The day God has marked as a day of rest for His people. A day we say with our resistance to work that we trust and belong to God, our sustainer and provider. 

Our passage today comes from one that is well known to many. The Lord gives the Israelites the 10 commandments at the foot of Mt. Sinai after they had been delivered from centuries worth of enslavement to the Egyptians. It’s within these commands we find the instruction to “remember the Sabbath day.” And if we listen, we can hear the Father’s invitation not to work hard to follow a rule, but to simply rest. 

8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.”

Sabbath simply means to stop or cease. And The word “remember” here in Hebrew means  ‘Practice’ So you might say to Sabbath is to make a practice of stopping. This is actually the first physical command of the 10. God expects this to be a regular rhythm for the life of His people. A rhythm to be remembered by making it holy or set apart. That is, this is supposed to be a day unlike the rest. It is an intentional, unhurried invitation to simply enjoy God and all that He has blessed us with.

The holiness of Sabbath reminds us that this is not a man made institution. Jesus reminds us that “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.” Our deepest need is the enjoyment of God and His presence. The Sabbath day was designed for this purpose. We also see from the command in Exodus that this is not just a day for the individual, but it was a gift that befitted the whole house. When we make a regular rhythm of practicing Sabbath others always benefit too. 

God not only made the Sabbath for us, He also modeled it as well. The command traces its roots back to the beginnings of creation when God rested from all His work of creating. So it stands to reason that if God did, then so should we. One might say when we observe Sabbath we reflect the image of God. Which is of course what we were created to do in the first place. To Sabbath is to function in the original factory settings of our creation. This is how we were made to live. To find our rest, value, purpose, and provision in our creator.

Do you find yourself constantly weary, worried, or just worn out? Pausing once a week to stop gives us space to allow God to renew our strength, fill us with peace, and grant us the rest we need to keep going. Honoring Sabbath allows us to live whole, complete lives. Flourishing as we were created too. 

I heard it said recently that practicing Sabbath is just practicing for heaven. It’s deeply communal, filled with worship, and the space to delight in the presence of God as we were always intended to do. 

Ask:

Sabbath is an intentional, unhurried invitation to enjoy God and all He has blessed us with. What keeps you from making a practice of observing a Sabbath rhythm? Do you find it hard to put down the “to-do” list? What would it look like if you just ceased, for one day, from your “ordinary work”? The work you get paid to do and the work you don’t, like the household chores. What if for one day a week you dedicated specific time to do only what makes you love God more and enjoy His presence in your life? 
As Sabbath should benefit the “ whole house”, how can you practice Sabbath in community with other believers? Who can you invite into this rythem?

Consider making a plan this week to practice a Sabbath rhythm. As you think about what this could look like, make a list of practices you might do that make you love Jesus more. Maybe it’s good food around a table with friends, going for a walk or hike, reading a good book, or playing games with your family. Sundays are a great time to practice as you worship with Church family and open the Word together. Maybe you grab a nap after lunch. Whatever you choose, may it lead you into delight and rest in the presence of a good God.

Yield:

As we close out our time together, ask the Lord to give you a vision for a Sabbath rhythm. Ask Him to help you say no to the “ordinary work” and yes to enjoying God’s presence. Surrender the space you need to make room for a Sabbath Practice and allow the Lord to show you how He and He alone sustains and provides for us. Ask Him to teach you how to enjoy the gift of Sabbath. 

Lord Jesus, you are Lord of the Sabbath. You made it for us to rest and delight in you. Make us a people who remember and set apart a Sabbath day of rest, as you have set us apart from the rest of  the world. Thank you for this gift that reminds us that we belong to you and not to the work. You are a good God and what you do is always good. 

Amen.