Summer Sabbath

Summer has been such an amazing time for my family and I to slooooooow down.

Well, at least a little bit, haha. The sun has been out later at night so it provides more hours to enjoy dinner a little longer, play Trouble or Uno for another round, and even watch a movie a little later than usual.

With the longer summer days, though, also comes a temptation to fill the hours with even more activities. One more play date here, yet another summer camp for my 9 and 7 year old kids, and oh… I see an opening in the calendar so let’s say yes to a beach day, lunch with friends, a trip to Legoland, a coffee date, and…

The list of additional activities to fill every spot on our calendar is endless. Can you relate?

And let’s face it - our culture reminds us at every turn that we’re missing out if we don’t say yes to it ALL.

But, when we pay attention, God reminds us that life is not meant to be chock full of calendar invites that never get turned down. On the contrary, when you get to know the God of the Bible, He tells us that the best thing for us to model with our lives is the rhythm He set in motion from the beginning of creation – to work (& play!) for 6 days a week and to rest for the 7th.

In Genesis it says,

God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning—Day Six. Heaven and Earth were finished, down to the last detail. By the seventh day God had finished his work. On the seventh day he rested... God blessed the seventh day. He made it a Holy Day because on that day he rested from his work... This is the story of how it all started, of Heaven and Earth when they were created.

- Genesis 1:31 - 2:4 (MSG)

Now, we could go on and on about how best to remember and observe a Sabbath in modern day. We could debate if it’s really something we need any longer now that we have the New Testament and are not held to the law of the Old. We can even argue that the concept is outdated and just doesn’t work in today’s society.

But! Whether or not we’re “called” to keep a Sabbath, there’s not a question in my mind that God set in motion a day of rest for our own good.

In fact, Jesus doubles down on God’s Sabbath example by saying,

“The Sabbath was made to serve us; we weren’t made to serve the Sabbath.”

- Mark 2:27 (MSG)

And we see multiple examples of Him taking time to redefine yet uphold the rhythm of rest as He walks the earth.

We all need time to stop, rest, delight, and worship on a regular basis. These 4 descriptions are actually the definition of the Hebrew root word of Sabbath (shabbat).

Stop. Rest. Delight. Worship.

Doesn’t reading those words already make you feel a little lighter?!

As you continue about your summertime, friends, choosing what to fill your calendar with one day at a time, remember… our everyday goal as Christians is to actually follow Jesus! As apprentices of the One True God, we aim, as John Mark Comer says in his Sabbath teaching guide, The Sabbath Practice: “to become a person who is marked by an inner spirit of restfulness and who is calm, at ease in their own body, unhurried, kind, and present.”

And as you choose a few less calendar-filling activities a week at a time, I hope you can also increase your own personal incorporation of Sabbath. You never know, you just might find that you become more aware of what God is doing around you, feel increasingly grateful, find a new level of emotional health, and simply enJOY to the fullest the goodness of your life with God.

So, friends, go ahead and…

Stop striving and know that I am God.

- Psalm 46:10 (NASB)

Love you!

Kyle Moss

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