The Unopened Gift

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

Feeling angry? Are you mad at someone? Feeling depressed, frustrated, hopeless, or whatever? I discovered this week that modern technology has the answer. You simply release stress by screaming into the digital void. You type the word that you are feeling such as mad, angry, or frustrated, and then click the button with the word, “scream.” Your computer yells the word and sends it into the great digital void. A nice gift but one that doesn’t last long.

We live in the golden age of 24-7 activity and accessibility. Who remembers when TV ended with the national anthem and then went static? Now if you can’t sleep at three in the morning there is a plethora of choices on TV. Forgot something at the store? No problem, Walmart is open 24 hours a day. In this golden age of accessibility, there is one commodity that is in short supply: rest. God gave us an amazing gift of rest but unfortunately, rest often goes unopened in our modern era.

At the very dawning of time, God set in motion the need to rest. After a busy period of creation, He looked around after saying it was good, and “so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” If God took rest seriously at creation, why do we think it’s optional for living? God saw rest as good and “blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

God set in motion a day to rest after a super busy week. Interestingly there is a growing social media trend called “bed rotting” where young people stay in bed all day. So, what is bed-rotting? Sleep scientist Vanessa Hill’s definition is “It’s kind of like a rejection of productivity culture by doing nothing and taking the time to rest.” Sounds good on the surface since the focus is on rest, however, the focus of this rest is often more on avoidance. “While an occasional lazy day is not a problem, if it becomes a habit, where the bed is preferred to anything else, that’s an issue.”

God’s idea of rest came after a season of life-sustaining activity and creativity. Apparently, the Sabbath was so important that the longest of the Ten Commandments addresses the issue of rest. The commandment didn’t just address the individual, but everyone involved with the family, even the animals. Men and women who culturally and socially had no rights and whose needs were seldom considered by others found out that God did care and included them in the Sabbath!

I grew up in Oklahoma when they had a series of blue laws where certain activities were restricted on Sundays. We served in South Africa when they had very strict blue laws starting on Saturday afternoon through Sunday. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day mandated a long list of restrictions for Sabbath observances. The problem with blue laws, Sabbath restrictions, and even well-intentioned forced rest, all of it becomes a burden trying to keep the rules to rest. Keeping the rules becomes the most important element, not the life-giving gift of rest that God intended.

Jesus took the Sabbath and again breathed new life back into the day. Jesus reminded the rule givers that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28) Jesus modeled rest by being with friends and fellowship. Jesus enjoyed a hike through the meadows. (Mark 2:23) Jesus used the day to bless a man who had struggled for years with a physical disability and gave him a restored body. (Mark 3:1-6) Jesus used the day to worship with a community of believers. “And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.” (Luke 4:16) Jesus modeled Sabbath that leaves us with a restful soul through relaxing, fellowshipping, ministry, worship, and scripture reading but not a set of rules on how to enjoy the day.

The Sabbath was never meant to be a “bed-rotting” experience but a time to re-create, re-energize and re-focus our lives on God. Instead of something to be marked off of a to-do list, the Sabbath was to bring life. Jesus understood the challenges we would face, the burdens we would carry, and the struggles we would face and offered us the real gift of rest; Himself. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke (instead of a bunch of dos and don’ts) upon you and learn from me…For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30)

“When followers of Jesus observe the Sabbath, we live as if this restoration has already taken place. We take a break from the broken rhythms of hustle and hardship to set aside time to honor Jesus’ rule, enjoy his presence, and extend rest to the world around us. When we trust God’s invitation to come to him and truly rest, we become places where his presence can dwell.” (Missy Takano)

What keeps us from opening this precious gift? Self-importance, pride, and even denial are only a few reasons. We think we can handle the non-stop life we find ourselves in each day. We think we have too much to do to slow down, take it easy, or refocus our energies. We think we can yell into a computer that takes our stress into the digital void.

God set in motion the pattern of rest by modeling for us what and why we need to rest. He saw how important the day was and declared it holy. Jesus took the time to model how the Sabbath was life-giving for our souls. The Holy Spirit takes our rhythm of rest to replenish and restore within us the fruit of our souls so that we can be givers of life and hope.

The Greeks had a race in their Olympic games that was unique. The winner was not the runner who finished first. It was the runner who finished with his torch still lit. (J. Stowell)

The Sabbath is God’s gift that allows you to finish this life with your torch still blazing bright. What keeps you from opening this gift from God?

God is great!