I am 41 years old and I just reached a point in my chaotic life where I’ve learned how to rest on the Sabbath. Despite growing up in the church and being taught that we should “remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”, I’ve given little credence to the message behind the commandment.
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Exodus 20:8-11
Throughout my entire life, I’ve looked at this passage and thought that surely, it must not really apply to modern times. It’s an Old Testament passage and we’re not under the Old Law anymore, so the idea of resting on Sunday isn’t really that important anymore. Yes, we should go to church and worship God because we love Him but not because it’s Sunday.
Well, I was half right. And half wrong.
Why We Rest
The commandment to “do no work” simply means that we are to be like God and rest on the 7th day. Is the 7th day Saturday? Is the 7th day Sunday? Does going to church violate the commandment as being work? These are all great questions but they do not matter.
Because we DON’T live under the Old Law, because Jesus came to give us freedom, we are not bound to legalistic principles. Instead, our hearts respond in obedience to God’s Word out of love!
What God wants from us is a period of time that we set aside as sacred time for rest and reflection.
He wants us to willingly and lovingly devote a small portion of our precious time to the Lover of our souls, the Creator of our world, the Giver of all life.
We rest because God has asked us to come away with Him our hearts obediently respond with a grateful “yes”.
What Does that Look Like?
For years I’ve wondered how to make room for rest. I know now that I’ve been looking at it all wrong this entire time. How have I survived this long without making time for rest?!?!?
Thankfully, I’m in a season of life now where my kids are pretty self-sufficient. Sundays are easy and all of my kids are involved with youth praise team so they stay after church on Sundays to practice and I get to go home alone with my husband. Enter my afternoon of rest.
That hasn’t always been the case though and you might be in a season that looks like my past 19 years: kids, toys, errands, laundry, dishes, sports, activities, deadlines, jobs, and the desire to create fun, family memories.
It’s ok! There’s still hope for rest, my weary friends.
Here are 7 Ways to Rest on the Sabbath, Depending on What Season of Life You’re In:
#1 Pick a Different Day
Is Sunday crammed full with teaching Sunday School, going to work, meal prep for the week, helping with homework, and shuffling kids to youth group? Pick a different day. Remember that God wants you to desire time with Him. He doesn’t care what day it is.
#2 Pick a Block of Time
It doesn’t have to be a full day. Maybe you have 2 hours on Tuesday mornings after the kids go to school before you go to work. That can be your holy, sacred Sabbath. Block that time out on you calendar and protect it as precious, sacred time.
#3 Physically Rest
Honestly, my favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon now is to take a nap. A wise friend once told me that taking a nap is sometimes the holiest thing we can do and she was right.
When there’s a million things on our to-do list, it can often be a sacrifice to sit down and physically rest but if God found it so important that He rested on the 7th day, we can trust that it’s important for us to rest, too.
#4 Choose Not to Work
Please don’t be like the Pharisees and take this commandment to mean that you can no longer help people, carry things, drive your car, or use your phone on Sundays. (Not that the Pharisees had cars or phones, but there are still sects today that believe this is a sin and refrain from doing pretty much anything on a Sunday.)
Instead, use your Sabbath time to set your to-do list aside. Refrain from starting any projects. Let the housework go. If there are things that absolutely have to get done, do them! But then set aside another block of time to be your Sabbath. We all need a Sabbath.
#5 Choose How to Use Your Time
Knowing what not to do is great, but we often get bored and easily distracted, so choosing how you’re going to spend your time in advance is a good idea.
My suggestions? Take a nap. Read a book. Go for a walk. Take a hot bath. Snuggle. Paint. Draw. Journal. Enjoy a cup of coffee on your porch. Cook a family meal if that’s relaxing for you. Do some gardening if digging in the dirt soothes your soul. Whatever you choose, be ready to block everything else out and spend that time at rest on the Sabbath.
#6 Plan Ahead
If you’re going to rest on Sunday afternoon, then you need to make sure the laundry is caught up and the meal prep is done on Saturday so you don’t have a disaster waiting for you on Monday morning. Resting on the Sabbath is not meant to create more stress and work for us the rest of the week. Yet, God knows it’s a sacrifice of our time which requires careful planning and intention.
#7 Connect with Him
Whether you have an hour before the kids wake up or an entire afternoon, find a way to connect with your Creator. Spend some time in prayer before you fall asleep during your nap. Turn on some worship music while you take a bath. Read a Bible story while you snuggle with your kids on the couch.
This isn’t a time of service where you feel you must do something good for God. This is just a time for you to connect with Him as you obediently enter into a place of rest on the Sabbath.
The good news is that God honors your sacrifice of time and gives it back exponentially. You can’t out-give God. Whether you give Him and hour or a day, He gives that time back. When you make Him a priority of your time, your to-do list still gets done. We have a good, good Father and He is so faithful to His daughters as He delights in our love for Him.
