Rest. Simply, rest.

Practicing the Sabbath and a life of rest

“Both sin and busyness have the exact same effect—they cut off your connection to God, to other people, and even to your own soul.” - John Mark Comer; The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.

While living in a working world that constantly demands attention, it is difficult to find a breath of fresh air in the smothering noise.

Take a break and discover the liberating practice of the Sabbath and learn how to simply, rest.

Sabbath, what?

Let’s cover a few theological facts.

The Jews in ancient times practiced, and still practice, the Sabbath day. On the seventh day of each week (Saturday), the Jews stop all work and take a day of rest.

The word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word Shabbat. It means “to stop” or “to cease.”

Practicing the Sabbath can look like designating Sunday as the day of rest. Perhaps, a Friday evening into a Saturday morning. Evaluate what is the best time of rest for you and protect it!

If God put rest into His law for the Jews, how important must it be for us to rest also?

Today’s Schedule: Hurry

Busyness equals importance. Sound familiar? This is what modern culture feeds into our daily schedules.

Who else feels like they need to list all the things they are working on in order to sound accomplished?

We can lose sight of the value of rest; we may lose the joy of conducting our favorite hobby.

Instead, work becomes our hobby, and checking emails at lunch becomes our rest.

Still, we stumble into the weekend restless and burnt out. We’re not built to work without rest until the annual one-week vacation comes around the corner.

Take a look at these quotes:

“It is not as though we do not love God - we love God deeply. We just do not know how to sit with God anymore. We have become perhaps the most emotionally exhausted, psychologically overworked, spiritually malnourished people in history,” AJ Swoboda states.

“Corrie ten Boom once said that if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy. There’s truth in that. Both sin and busyness have the exact same effect—they cut off your connection to God, to other people, and even to your own soul,” John Mark Comer quotes in his book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.

Comer also says, “To walk with Jesus is to walk with a slow, unhurried pace. Hurry is the death of prayer and only impedes and spoils our work. It never advances it.”

It’s clear that busyness is not a solution to a fulfilling and important life — hurry leads to quite the opposite.

That being said, how do we quiet the unceasing noise of the world?

The Meaning of Rest

Rest allows one to be truly refreshed. It allows one to be fully present in relationships, moments, and ultimately more intimate with the Lord.

Yes, sleep is rest; a very important form of rest. Yet, you can have enough hours of sleep and not be refreshed and rejuvenated mentally.

Rest can look like doing something you love…that has no correlation to your profession.

Whether that’s tending a garden, arranging fresh flowers, painting, completing a DIY project, bike riding, spending time with close friends, reading, writing, or simply sitting outside on the deck with a cup of coffee at home, do something that allows your health to be renewed. That includes physical, mental, emotional health.

Sometimes the most intimate moments with the Lord are in the quiet moments outdoors, in the soil, in touch with creation — away from the chatter of the world.

In the end, I encourage you to develop a practice of the Sabbath, to commune with the Lord in everything you do, whether that is a nap or planting life in the dirt.

After all, it is all worship.

Simply resting, is all worship.