The Sabbath

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.  

~ Genesis 2:2 -3

Day 7 - Sabbath: A Day of Delight

In six days God created the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day he rested from His work. God delighted in the good creation for indeed it was “very good.”  He blessed the Sabbath, the seventh day, and made it holy, set apart simply for us to rest along with Him, to share in His delight in the good creation.  We delight in our creator and enjoy the fruit of His work each week at our places of worship and in our homes among our loved ones.

Sundays are the traditional family day in many Christian households.  For others it is sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday. How are you keeping the Sabbath holy as a time completely dedicated to resting in God’s love and delighting with one another? 

Michele and I love to take afternoon naps and enjoy each other.  We may relax by seeing a movie we enjoy. We always discuss together with our children the sermon we received during worship.  We play board games and laugh a lot.  We include friends from church or the neighborhood and socialize with them either informally or at a church program.  It is a renewing time.  And it is a time for us to be intimate before our God.

It is rumored that a Jewish tradition is to make love to your spouse on Sabbath as a means of enjoying the goodness of creation and delighting in one another. Whatever your understanding of how to keep Sabbath, discipline yourselves to take one day out of seven to stop work and join God in delighting in the good things of this earth.  Worship with God’s family. Pray. Read. Feast. Take a stroll in the park, or a walk around the neighborhood. Visit Friends. Take a short trip to the lake, beach or mountain. Do some gardening if that brings you joy and helps you connect with the creator.

We practiced a family discussion each Sunday when our children were little.  We asked a question and each of us drew a picture, and then shared how the picture expressed our answer. When Michele was pregnant with our third child, Anthony, we asked how each of us felt about the new baby coming.  Erika, our middle child was 3 years old and scribbled something colorful. She explained that the picture was of her sitting on a rock out in front of our home waiting on Mommy to come home.  She was waiting for Mommy to pick her up and hold her.  In her little heart she recognized that Mommy was going to be holding a new baby and she was feeling sad that Mommy wouldn’t be able to hold her anymore.  We reassured her that we would always have time for holding her.  God spoke through our little girl that day, something we would have missed if we weren’t keeping Sabbath.

God has set aside the Sabbath as a day holy unto Him.  It is a special day each week just for resting in His life-giving presence and simply taking joy in all the goodness of this life.  Count your blessings and thank God. In the same way that God brought light into darkness and separated the cosmic waters to make a space for the living earth, God will do recreating work in your soul.  All who are in Christ are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).  Keeping Sabbath well is maintaining and deepening that “in Christ” status.

Remember the Sabbath and keep it set aside as completely God’s day to love, renew, and enjoy!