Sundays and Rest

I recently had a Sunday which felt like, and actually was, a day of rest. I went to church, came home and had an easy pre-planned lunch, had an afternoon sleep, another easy pre-planned supper and an evening of just sitting around. It almost felt like a lazy day, and then I reminded myself it was likely what a day of rest should feel like.

I’ve often wondered if weeding the garden on Sunday would be considered work if one actually enjoyed it (I’m not sure who that is, but perhaps someone out there enjoys weeding). Or is a game of baseball or hockey considered work if one enjoys it? And does a day of rest have to be a certain day of the week or should the purpose be to intentionally REST one day a week? And is a Sabbath more than just a day of rest or is it also a day of worship and reverence to the Lord?

Humans are finite creations. We can’t function indefinitely without sleep. We need regular meals and fluids to sustain ourselves, we need healthy relationships with other people and we need to rest. We need to regularly rest in order to be rejuvenated, replenished, refreshed and refueled.

When we try to squeeze church into an already too busy week we can often feel like church is just another thing on our plates. Perhaps if we shifted how we fit our Sundays into the rest of our week then we would see Sundays as our priorities and the rest of our week would revolve around Sundays.

Ahem . . . I think this would likely be a good place to start . . .

It is well documented in scripture that we are to take a day of rest. Personally I don’t question whether we need this, but I do question, in the midst of our busy seasons in life, how do I fit in a day of rest into my already busy week?

“Work may be done for six days, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, a sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord wherever you live.” Lev 23:3 HCSB

Sunday:

            A day to worship our Lord and to be fed His Word

A day where our mind, body and soul rests

A day for perspective and refreshment

A day to be refueled for the coming days ahead

A day where our finiteness can be restored for the many things we do on a given day

A day to come and gather so we can go and be among

God didn’t make us like the energizer bunny . . . to keep going and going and going. He made us so we have to stop, to eat, to rest, to visit, to laugh and to share life.

When God says we are to observe a day of rest I don’t think He meant we are to define it by what we like to do as opposed to what is best for us. No, we are to stop, rest and re-fuel so our finite bodies are ready to go back to work.

Deuteronomy 5:12

“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you.”

*If you wrestle with whether you should observe the Sabbath, what that might look like or what was God really trying to say; Let me strongly suggest you pull out a concordance or do an online bible search (www.biblegateway.com) and read all of the scripture references for the word Sabbath. Ask the Lord to speak specifically to you and your situation. Then hear His voice and live according to His Word.

Jo-Ann P.