You've probably read this passage of Scripture: "You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 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. " (Exodus 20:9-10, NLT). I've run across several perspectives on this recently, from sources as diverse as the Catalyst podcast, where I heard an interview with Eugene Peterson (the guy who translated The Message version of the Bible), and an interview with Rob Bell of the Mars Hill church; and a link I found in Glen Stansberry's LifeDev blog. All of these folks are essentially saying the same thing--it is important to take a day off from work.
Traditionally, Christians have regarded Sundays as Sabbath days, but I believe the intention here is not that we must observe a specific day of the week as the day of rest, but that we do set aside one day each week for rest and relaxation from our labor. (Pastors, worship leaders and others who work on Sundays obviously can't take Sundays off...)
Scriptures teaches us that God himself modeled this pattern when he created the universe--he worked at it for six days (however you may interpret a "day" in that context) and rested on the seventh. Since we are created in the image of God, it only seems reasonable that we are wired up in a similar way, and that a weekly day of rest is something we should make room for as a matter of habit--perhaps even obedience.
The ancient Jews took this idea to the extreme, establishing all sorts of rules and regulations about what was and was not permissible activity on the Sabbath--we don't want to go there. One of Jesus' criticisms of the Jewish leaders was that they had taken the Law, which was supposed to be for the benefit of human beings, and turned it into a burden by adding hundreds of detailed rules to it. That isn't rest.
I suspect that Sabbath rest looks a little different for each one of us. For some of us, it will mean turning off the cell phone and computer and spending time with our family, just having fun. For some of us, it may mean quieting the usual din of our lives--maybe turning off the TV or the radio and enjoying some quiet time to read, or take a walk in the woods, or go fishing, or take a drive in the country. For some it may mean that we tinker in the garage, or pursue a hobby. It might mean just spending an afternoon in a coffee shop with your spouse or a close friend...the possibilities are endless.
The main thing is that we choose one day per week and set it aside for rest, whether the rest is physical, emotional, or mental (or all three). For some of us, a whole day without obligations is a difficult thing to come by, and it will mean that we have to say "no" to some very good things from time to time. That isn't an easy thing to do. In fact, if we are bent towards workaholism, it may drive us nuts, at first.
For those who are heavily involved in ministry, this is especially difficult. Many of us have full-time jobs along with many extra hours of ministry responsibilities, and we may have to work hard to make a couple of half-days available for Sabbath rest some weeks, but frankly, not to do so is to ignore pretty clear instructions from God.
It is also probably true that many of us don't use our six days of labor all that well. I may need to ask myself, do I really need to sit and watch three episodes of "Seinfeld" or "Friends" in a row, or is there a better way for me to use those 90 minutes, perhaps making phone calls, composing e-mail, listening to new worship music, working out a guitar arrangement, or preparing for rehearsal times? Perhaps if I used the rest of the week more wisely, it wouldn't seem so difficult to take a day off from all of my work and ministry responsibilities.
Those of us who lead ministries must also be sensitive to the needs of those who work with us in those ministries. Even though we may have volunteers who are willing to work long hours without a Sabbath rest, we must encourage them to take a day off, even if it means certain things don't get done.
God made us, and God says we need one day of rest in every seven. I have to admit that I am challenged by this--I hope you'll take a good, hard look at your life, as well.
Traditionally, Christians have regarded Sundays as Sabbath days, but I believe the intention here is not that we must observe a specific day of the week as the day of rest, but that we do set aside one day each week for rest and relaxation from our labor. (Pastors, worship leaders and others who work on Sundays obviously can't take Sundays off...)
Scriptures teaches us that God himself modeled this pattern when he created the universe--he worked at it for six days (however you may interpret a "day" in that context) and rested on the seventh. Since we are created in the image of God, it only seems reasonable that we are wired up in a similar way, and that a weekly day of rest is something we should make room for as a matter of habit--perhaps even obedience.
The ancient Jews took this idea to the extreme, establishing all sorts of rules and regulations about what was and was not permissible activity on the Sabbath--we don't want to go there. One of Jesus' criticisms of the Jewish leaders was that they had taken the Law, which was supposed to be for the benefit of human beings, and turned it into a burden by adding hundreds of detailed rules to it. That isn't rest.
I suspect that Sabbath rest looks a little different for each one of us. For some of us, it will mean turning off the cell phone and computer and spending time with our family, just having fun. For some of us, it may mean quieting the usual din of our lives--maybe turning off the TV or the radio and enjoying some quiet time to read, or take a walk in the woods, or go fishing, or take a drive in the country. For some it may mean that we tinker in the garage, or pursue a hobby. It might mean just spending an afternoon in a coffee shop with your spouse or a close friend...the possibilities are endless.
The main thing is that we choose one day per week and set it aside for rest, whether the rest is physical, emotional, or mental (or all three). For some of us, a whole day without obligations is a difficult thing to come by, and it will mean that we have to say "no" to some very good things from time to time. That isn't an easy thing to do. In fact, if we are bent towards workaholism, it may drive us nuts, at first.
For those who are heavily involved in ministry, this is especially difficult. Many of us have full-time jobs along with many extra hours of ministry responsibilities, and we may have to work hard to make a couple of half-days available for Sabbath rest some weeks, but frankly, not to do so is to ignore pretty clear instructions from God.
It is also probably true that many of us don't use our six days of labor all that well. I may need to ask myself, do I really need to sit and watch three episodes of "Seinfeld" or "Friends" in a row, or is there a better way for me to use those 90 minutes, perhaps making phone calls, composing e-mail, listening to new worship music, working out a guitar arrangement, or preparing for rehearsal times? Perhaps if I used the rest of the week more wisely, it wouldn't seem so difficult to take a day off from all of my work and ministry responsibilities.
Those of us who lead ministries must also be sensitive to the needs of those who work with us in those ministries. Even though we may have volunteers who are willing to work long hours without a Sabbath rest, we must encourage them to take a day off, even if it means certain things don't get done.
God made us, and God says we need one day of rest in every seven. I have to admit that I am challenged by this--I hope you'll take a good, hard look at your life, as well.
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