Sabbath
God’s Gift of a Weekly Day of Rest
I Sabbath. Each week I set aside one day to rest. Over the last two years I’ve developed my own Sabbath rhythm, joining other Christians who are freshly embracing the discipline of stopping. This way of life is steeped with God’s wisdom (after all, Sabbath was God’s idea) and offers rest and relief in the midst of today’s hurried cultural moment. Sabbath reaches deeper than self-care, “me time” and a day off work. It is rest for your soul. I see Sabbath as God’s gift to us humans and I share this gift heartily with you. Here’s what I have learned about Sabbath, and how to do it.
The Sabbath is one full day a week distinguished by not working (including chores, too). In the Bible, when we first see Sabbath modelled (Genesis 2:2-3), God finished six days of creating with resting from work on the seventh day. The Hebrew word for rest here translates into our word cease. To Sabbath is to cease. Creation itself models a rhythm of working and ceasing: awake and asleep, Summer and Winter, harvesting and sowing, hunting and hibernation. Even soil needs rest from constant production. We humans need rest too. Sabbath is our day to cease; to be content with what we have done and left undone. For one day a week we actually embody that God is God and we are dust; we are finite and we are tired.
Sabbath Then and Now
Early in the Old Testament, God freed the Israelites from slavery and parented them to live in His ways, using laws as structure for their growth. Keeping the Sabbath was the fourth and longest of Israel’s ten core laws (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15). These ten commandments mostly outline how to relate to God and others, but the Sabbath law describes how to relate to time. God called Sabbath holy time. Israel had been overworked as slaves for 400 years and Sabbath taught them to be people freed from slavery. Sabbath taught Israel to cease.
Today, over 3000 years since the Israelites were told to Sabbath, Christians belong to a completely different era of God’s narrative (the Church Age following the new covenant of Jesus). Do Christians today have to keep the Sabbath? I have heard good thoughts surrounding both “yes” and “no” answers. But perhaps the way to think about it isn’t, “Do I have to?” but rather, “How will this spiritually form me?”. If you feel uncomfortable embracing the Sabbath as an active old covenant law, Sabbath still remains wise advice, particularly considering today’s increasingly relentless pace of life.
What Sabbath Is For Me
Most Saturdays I practice resting from work for my Sabbath. Practice is a good word here, since this is a rhythm that takes practice. It often feels bizarre to spend a day stopping, particularly when there continues to be stuff that needs to be done. The feeling of work, and its ensuing tiredness, can come from unpaid work as well as paid work: from chores and responsibilities, from scheduled days full of appointments and errands. Imagine one day a week free from those!
Usually, I walk quickly, multitask often and instinctively value time-management, achievement and discipline. Over time I have learnt what stopping looks like for me. My Sabbath is about slowing down and avoiding anything I can tick off a to-do list. I sleep long and take the scenic route. I don’t check the time. Instead, I do non-urgent, pleasant things like walking, baking, journalling, sleeping and playing games. During a recent Sabbath Saturday, in a moment when I felt grateful and full of rest, I wrote a list of everything Sabbath is to me, and everything it isn’t…
To me, Sabbath is sleeping in, not checking the time, indulging in good food, leaving things out around the house, saying yes to treats, quality time with my husband, moving slowly, putting my phone aside (mostly), guilt-free rest, taking a bath, spending time in nature, a day to look forward to, solitude (sometimes), reading, board games, baking for fun, feeling unimportant, feeling permission, and room for self-awareness.
To me, Sabbath isn’t time to self improve, time to exercise, time to catch up on chores, planning, rules, rushing, an alarm in the morning, catching up on texts, reading emails, time to work on relationship stuff with my husband, watching what I eat, worrying, anything that gives me a sense of accomplishment, ticking something off my to-do list, cleaning, laundry, guilt, pressure, trying, or responsibility.
The Practicalities of Doing Sabbath
If you would like to begin your own Sabbath rhythm, here are some helpful things to know.
Bridgetown Church has excellent resources for learning about Sabbath. I wholeheartedly recommend their sermon series if you’d like to know more. I also recommend reading The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer (a pastor at Bridgetown, a Church based in Orgeon, USA).
Sabbath needn’t be a Saturday - choose a day that works best for you. If you can, set aside the same day each week, but if you’re doing irregular shift work (for example), try to clear one day, any day, every seven.
If you're employed, you’ll likely need two days off each week to keep up with life’s chores in addition to setting aside one whole day to rest.
Each week you need to work/prepare for your Sabbath (ironic, huh?). Think ahead, stock your cupboards and organise your home however you’ll want to enjoy it. A few days before Sabbath I take out the trash and catch up on notifications. A true day of stopping doesn’t happen accidentally - be deliberate about it. It’s worth it.
Beware of Sabbath-ish days. It is tempting to do partial Sabbaths that include just a few chores but mostly nice things. This is not fully stopping and misses the true gift that Sabbath is. I challenge you to try Sabbath, not Sabbath-ish.
Sabbath doesn’t always feel great and that’s okay. Without life’s usual hum of activity and phone dings, the day is much emptier. Sabbaths can sometimes feel boring, lonely and uncomfortable. Residual emotions from the week have time to simmer to the surface. Lean into it. Decompress.
Practice Sabbath with friends. Is there anyone in your life who keeps the Sabbath? If so, you can dialogue through inevitable practical questions that come up (like, “I have young kids - how on earth do I do this?!”).
Finally, Sabbath is worship. When we regularly cease, we regularly create room for God in our lives. Find yourself thinking about God on your Sabbaths - about His generosity to advise rest, and His sovereignty to take care of the world whilst we do.