My husband and I recently watched several documentaries discussing the importance of honoring the Sabbath. I believe our society’s pressure to keep us rushing about and constantly busy is a weapon formed against us, despite claims that it improves our lives. No doubt the enemy would do anything to keep us from resting in God.
Scripture emphasizes the importance of Sabbath rest, as it is one of the Ten Commandments, is confirmed by Jesus on multiple occasions, and is referenced in many instances throughout the Bible. Although we’re not under the law, but grace, we have human limitations and need rest, so the principle of the Sabbath still applies. As with any of God’s commands, I always try to consider that God is looking primarily at the condition of my heart as I walk out what I believe to be obedience.
Justifying Unrest
As a busy mom, wife, author, and small business owner, it’s both simultaneously difficult and critically necessary for me to rest. I can talk myself out of it at a moment’s notice by justifying the importance of my task list. Setting boundaries around those things can even seem unloving at times. I have learned how to justify not resting, and I think that’s exactly where the enemy would want me to be — justifying disobedience.
As my husband and I studied the principles of the Sabbath further, we came upon a quote from J. Vernon McGee in which he said he chose every day to honor the Sabbath and not just Saturday or Sunday. He made it a point each day to find a resting place in Christ and deny self-sufficiency. His friend replied that he supposed that seven days of Sabbath was better than just one! I thought this was a unique perspective on what it means to rest on the Sabbath. Just as God rested on His own finished work, we can rest every day on the finished work of Christ.
Uninhibited Surrender
Regardless of when we have Sabbath rest, I’m confident that the Lord intends for it to be a rest rooted in grace and not “Christian work” to show ourselves in good standing with Him. I believe it should be a surrendered and uninhibited love, like the woman who perfumed His feet with her hair, even in the midst of all the busyness, chaos, and division, and potential criticism of the world.
The true beauty of the Sabbath is the surrender to Him over the world, and I think we should take the opportunity each day to do that as we can. These, my friends, will be the richest moments of our lives.
