Sabbath
Growing up, Sunday afternoons and evenings were great! Why did it feel so good to come in and take off our “Sunday Best”, have a late lunch, nap, go back for Sunday night church, and then race home praying the VCR successfully recorded America’s Funniest Home Videos? There was something about the pace and simplicity of that routine that felt safe. But the other side . . . . oh the other side! When this routine got interrupted, the real life in home America’s Funniest Home Videos went from a “G” rating to an “R” real quick. You see, sometime life would happen on Sundays. Someone would get sick, Dad would have a meeting late, or the BLASTED VCR didn’t record! You know what I mean. Things are setup for a nice relaxing Sunday and then you find yourself screaming “BOB SAGET!” - and not in a good way.
While I am so grateful for the good and . . . not so good memories of Sundays growing up, I am learning now that as people of God we have missed so much of what this day is meant to be.
We all know that Sabbath is and was celebrated by the Jewish people on Saturday. But once Jesus rose on a Sunday and then the Church was birthed on a Sunday, the Sabbath made its New Covenant transition to Sunday. But when I mention Sunday to you, your mind runs. Many of us think of a good routine or maybe even the slower pace, but to define our Sundays as “Sabbath” is often inaccurate. Sabbath is time for rest, recalibration, and the reset of my soul.
Not a rest that I can create or schedule. A Holy rest, given by God.
Not a recalibration that I can cause or accomplish. A Holy recalibration, driven by God.
Not a reset of my body or mind. A Holy reset of my soul, initiated by God.
The key component here is that I am not the creator, scheduler, causer, or accomplisher. I am unable to reset myself. Sundays are important to this point: Sundays are supposed to be the space we give to The Creator, Scheduler, Causer, Accomplisher, and Restorer of our souls!
In Genesis, when God created everything, He actually did create on the Sabbath. He created rest. He didn’t need rest. Our Father wasn’t tired from a long work week. He created this space for us to stop, pause, SELAH...and meet with Him. He knew our need for space.
Let’s look at it this way: God created life on the other six days and pauses “life” on the seventh. We are to live life but we are also to give space for God to operate in us. It’s not that He can’t work in other ways or on other days, but rest is about submission. Every person on the planet will fall asleep at some point over the next 24 hours to 36 hours. That is 8 1/2 BILLON people and not one can go any longer without some type of rest. Our bodies are designed to sleep. God designed us like that even though He didn’t have to. We could have unlimited “batteries” in our biological system and never need sleep. But that isn’t how God did it. He created us with an inescapable need for rest. Why? God Himself doesn’t sleep. He doesn’t need to - ever. So at some point over the next couple of days 8 1/2 billon people will fall asleep, consciously or subconsciously making the declaration that they are not God and that He is. We are incapable of staying up, but God is able!
We are designed for rest, but in a relational, tangible way with our Creator.
Jesus said in:
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
“Come” - because I am not there and rest is relational.
“Take” - because I don’t have it and rest is tangible.
“Let me teach you” - because I don’t know it and rest is learned.
Look at it - Is Jesus inviting us into more work? His yoke? Why would Jesus explain rest with a tool of manual labor? I will always be strapped to a yoke because of the fall of Adam and Eve. You see when we as humans sin, we are strapped to the curse that God cursed Adam and Eve with. That original punishment was one of hardship and toil but with the knowledge that one day Jesus would offer to help carry our load. Jesus is like a 2000-pound bull who is inviting me, a 20-pound calf, to be yoked together. I get to join in His work. He is the one doing the work. He is the one living. That sounds just like what Paul was writing in:
19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
My calling to to die - to kill the old last name that I was under before I was adopted. No longer am I Ryan Mullins Sinner. I am Ryan Mullins Child of the King, Heir to the Throne! The Father, in His incredible grace, knows that I have a natural bent to flee this identity and run back to my old name. So He created a day in the week for me to give Him space to remind me who I am.
Sundays are for submission.
Sundays are for recalibration.
Sundays are for resetting of my soul.
Sundays are for rest.
Remember this and keep it Holy!