SABBATH REST ~ Alexis A. Goring

Sabbath Rest

A devotional by Alexis A. Goring

Image courtesy Pixabay.com

 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” – Exodus 20:8-11 (KJV)

Growing up in the church, I didn’t always understand this concept of resting once a week, and as an energy-filled youth I didn’t always look forward to it. But as I grew up and more demands were placed on my life – especially when I worked a full-time job for five days a week – I started to value and cherish Sabbath rest more deeply.

According to The Bible, God made the world in six days but on the seventh day, He rested. God doesn’t need rest because He is a God who never slumbers (Psalm 121:3-4) but He’s also a Master Teacher and I believe that He rested on the seventh day (Sabbath) to set an example for humankind as to what we need to do in order to maintain proper balance.

The Bible says that our bodies are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) but if we don’t take care of it with proper exercise, nutrition and rest then eventually, we’ll either fall apart or become very sick. God knows that we need to take care of our bodies and He knows that we need time to rest from our labor at least once a week. So He created Sabbath.

Sabbath is not meant for us to simply rest and not do anything! We’re supposed to spend time with God by going to church and fellowshipping with other believers. We are to worship Him and keep His Sabbath Day holy, which for my faith denomination means we don’t work on Sabbath unless we’re in the healing career fields (doctors, nurses, etc.) because even Jesus Christ when He was here on Earth, healed people on the Sabbath day (Matthew 12:10-13). However, when it comes to going to sporting events like football games or working our non-healing related day job on the Sabbath day, we don’t do that. Let’s read about that in Isaiah 58:13 (NLT):

“Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day,
but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day.
Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day,

and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.”

God knows we need to rest.

Two examples of why we need to rest and reflect on God’s goodness once a week come to mind: One from a former colleague and one from a conversation amongst post office workers that I overheard.

When I was a substitute teacher, one of my assignments was for a middle school. I remember a teacher there who said she works “seven days a week.” When she’s not teaching, she’s working her retail job not just on the weekdays but on the weekends.

Now for those of you who may not know, teaching is a time-consuming job. When I was teacher, I only had rest on Sabbath hours (from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday). After that sacred time of rest, I had to do schoolwork (lesson planning and grading papers) in order to stay on track and up to date with all the demands of my work as a teacher. It was overwhelming! And it made me appreciate Sabbath rest on a deeper level. It also gave me empathy for teachers and other professionals who must work seven days a week in order to stay afloat financially and make ends meet or simply to keep up with the demands of their career.

The other example that comes to mind was when I was waiting in line at a post office. I overheard one of the workers saying how tired she was and how she longed for rest.  Then I heard her colleague reply, “You can rest when you die.” Ouch. Such a statement is true (The Bible says in Psalm 13:3 that death is like sleeping until Jesus Christ returns to wake you up and take His faithful followers home to Heaven) but that statement from the post office worker must have hurt her colleague who was exhausted by her work!

God never meant us to run ourselves ragged with the demands of life and work which is why in His great wisdom, He made the Sabbath Day for us to rest and reflect on His goodness. I know from experience, especially as an adult now, that keeping God’s Sabbath Day holy every week has helped to renew my mind and rejuvenate my soul. I am so much more balanced and happier when I keep His Sabbath every week. I am also more grateful as I reflect on all He’s done and continues to do in my life and in the lives of others.

Sabbath rest is important for the human soul, body, mind and spirit. It’s blessed me beyond words and if you have not been observing Sabbath, I encourage you to start … keeping this special time with God is worth it!

Author Bio

: Alexis A. Goring is a passionate writer with a degree in Print Journalism and an MFA in Creative Writing. She loves the art of storytelling and hopes that her stories will connect readers with the enduring, forever love of Jesus Christ.