“Sabbath is that uncluttered time and space in which we can distance ourselves from our own activities enough to see what God is doing.” ~ Eugene Peterson
According to the National Sleep Foundation, American’s rated sleeping number four out of five choices. The five choices being:¹
- Fitness/Nutrition
- Work
- Hobbies
- Sleep/Rest
- Social Life
If America was founded on Judaic-Christian principles, how come the Sabbath is rarely adhered to, especially if 70% of Americans claim to be Christian? If it was good enough for God, shouldn’t it be good enough for us?
Most Jews who observe the Sabbath regard it as having been instituted as a perpetual covenant for the Israelites (Exodus 31:13-17), as a sign respecting two events: the day during which God rested after having completed Creation in six days (Exodus 20:8-11) and the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:12-15). However, most Sabbath-keeping Christians regard the Sabbath as having been instituted by God at the end of Creation week and that the entire world was then, and continues to be, obliged to observe the seventh day as Sabbath.²
Some people of faith make the Sabbath very legalistic, which forfeits the spiritual discipline’s spiritual significance. The Sabbath shouldn’t be about what not to do; it should be about what to do, which is to take a break from the ordinary grind of life and hang out with God. The bible tells us repeatedly where we are to find rest (Matthew 11:28-30).³ All that said, it’s easy not to do. What happened to our day of rest? What happened to Sundays being the Lord’s day?
There was a time in America where little was permissible on a Sunday. Legislators regularly argued in the 19th century over what you could do or not do on Sunday. This subject debate was only second to the issue of slavery.
Those opinions began with the Puritans, who settled in New England in the 1630s. They called it “Strict Sunday Observance.” Sunday was a day for church-going, and “Blue Laws” made almost everything else illegal. Wow, how times have changed. There isn’t anything you can’t do on a Sunday today, including but not limited to work, buying liquor, and having to attend a child’s sporting event.
Will Americans one day lose God’s favor because of our eroding adherence to spiritual disciplines?
Regardless of how the world is changed, scripture never does. If God rested, then so should we. What can you do differently to be intentional about taking a day each week and making it about God? How might this day look in the 21st century? There is one universal truth; the less our lives are about us, the better off our lives become. Be intentional about a weekly Sabbath; spend some time seeing what the Creator of the universe is up to; it will make a big difference in how your life turns out.
Lord, I am undisciplined when it comes to rest in You. My life has been caught up in the redundancy of go go go and me me me. Please forgive me, and help me become disciplined and committed to spending a day of my week invested and resting in You. In Your Spirit and Name, I pray these things. May Your will and not mine be done now and forever. Amen.
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