A Day For Rest

I have been feeling the need to be more intentional about having a day of rest every week.   Easier said than done.  It's amazing how I can find ways to fill up my time with self-imposed obligations.  Granted, rest during the week is hard with two young children to feed, clothe, bathe, chase around, take to school and other activities.  A lot of chores and errands go undone during the week as a result.  Hence, I depend a lot on the weekends when my husband is home to get things done.  Coupled with other obligations most weekends, we are busy, busy, busy and almost always on the go.

Thankfully, today has been different.  What a gift the snow has been (even if it's really more ice). It was a wonderful treat for the girls and for us watching them delight playing in it.   More than that, the snow gave us the perfect excuse to just stay home.  Today has been the first Saturday in a long time we did not need to run errands, attend family events, or go do all the things we normally do on weekends.  Today was the first day in a long time that I have stayed in pajamas all day!  Aside from going outside in the snow, cooking meals, and doing a quick vacuum job, we have not done any work -- and it has been marvelous!  We have been able to play with the children, relax, enjoy an unhurried meal as a family, and I even got in a two hour nap while my 2 year old was sleeping!  

I've meditated on and learned a lot today about the Sabbath. God created the Sabbath as a day of rest and to focus on Him.  Originally, God, through Moses, declared the seventh day of the week (Saturday) as the Sabbath.  Early in the history of the church, Christians began meeting instead on the first day of the week (Sunday) to celebrate Jesus being resurrected on that day.  Over time, Sunday became known as the Lord's day and when Christians refer to the Sabbath today they usually mean Sunday.  However, Jesus teaches us that it doesn't really matter what day of the week we observe the Sabbath.  The important thing is that we do observe it. 

The Sabbath was intended to be a day for mental, physical, and spiritual rest.  It was intended as more than a religious rite or mere stopping of labor and work.  It was a day to meditate on God's provisions, to praise him, to enjoy time being "still", in peace and harmony with mind, body, and spirit.  It was intended to be a joyful day.   Unfortunately in Jesus' time, it became a legalistic stumbling block because religious leaders (the Pharisees) began punishing people if they "worked," even if they were doing good deeds to glorify God.  This is one of the many reasons they wanted to persecute Jesus who performed miracles and healing on the Sabbath.

With Jesus and the New Testament, believers now are encouraged to "rest" in the Lord Jesus who is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8, Luke 6:5, Mark 2:28).  This means that we accept the work of Jesus on the cross, and we know that our salvation no longer depends on works or whether we keep a Sabbath.  We rest in the reality of God's presence in our lives daily and have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us each day.  However, it is also clear that the spirit of the Sabbath remains important.  As humans we need rest -- physically, mentally, and spiritually.   When we don't get that rest we are not happy and we cannot focus on the Lord, our life, or our duties and tasks as we should.  You do not want to see me when I have not had much rest.  Trust me, I am horrible!  I am irritable, I am mean, I lack patience. . . And if you cross my path, beware!   Thank God, the Holy Spirit convicts me often and I have learned to check my behavior better -- but I'm not perfect and a lot of times you still see the tired beast come out!

Today I was able to enjoy a true Sabbath day.  So did my husband and children and I could tell it made a huge difference in the general mood and manner in which we interacted with each other.  Thank you, God!  Thank you for reminding me how much I need rest from all the things that I fill up my weekends with.  Dear Lord, give me strength and courage to say "no" to the unnecessary things each week so that I may continue to instill the spirit of the Sabbath in my family.  Please give me wisdom to plan my days and weeks accordingly so that I may leave one day free and open to be still and bask in your peace.  Amen.