This week’s devotions are based on this week’s message: Shadows: A Glimpse of the Sabbath! (WATCH HERE)
It’s hard to stop.
Maybe it’s just me. But maybe you can relate.
Most days it feels like I didn’t get enough done. A lot of days it feels like what I did get done wasn’t nearly enough to make a dent in a list of items that is longer than the day. The thought truly goes through my mind, “How do people have time to watch TV?”
Sure, there are a few times where I sit down for a few minutes and don’t do a whole lot. There are times our family takes vacation and chooses to not have a big agenda. But to take a whole day and rest? I don’t remember the last time I did that on a regular basis.
When was the last time you did that?
As we looked at yesterday, God created the seventh day, just like he did days one through six. Day Seven was set apart, made holy and blessed by God. For what reason? He had stopped all the work of creating he had done. His to do list for the week was complete.
So why would he create a pattern of working for six days and resting on the seventh?
He knew the body he had just created needed time to rest. Our bodies need rest. Our mind needs rest.
An article from January 5, 2023 from the Newport Beach Christian Counselor states this:
A study of a small group of people at Liberty University investigated how an eight-week Sabbath routine impacted anxiety, worry, and stress. Most participants, upon completion of the study, showed a decrease in anxiety, worry, and stress in their lives. When you consider the benefits specifically connected to rest, there are a variety of things that help improve mental health.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness describes benefits such as increased energy, which allows you to do more of the things you enjoy. Similarly, people who take time to rest can experience more energy to devote to the people they love and the work that is important to them. These things all work together to improve mental well-being.
Remember that God “blessed the seventh day.” One would expect to experience blessings from that which God blessed! God knows what is best for our souls AND our bodies!
Exodus 34:21 “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.
This is a great reminder that the Lord directed people, even in the busiest of the times of the year, rest on the seventh day.
To be clear, I am not advocating for the return of the Saturday Sabbath or making the Sabbath a legal requirement for Christians. The Sabbath was just a glimpse of the complete rest we have in Jesus and ultimately in heaven.
But as with all things good, might there be a benefit to incorporating some regular patterns of rest into the business of life.
I’m going to work at it…I suspect that when my body and mind get a regular rest, I will be more positive and more productive. Why? Because God knows the body he created would need to rest as well as the mind he knit together.
So let’s try to incorporate a bit of the Sabbath rhythms into our lives…and see how God chooses to bless it!
Apply: What would it look like if you started with an hour or two Sabbath rest? A full day?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving the Sabbath to me and all your people. Help me to always find rest in you for my body, mind and soul. AMEN.