The Importance of Sabbath
“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.” — Hebrews 4:9-11
There is a danger for well-intentioned people of God to live a life of arrogant disobedience toward God. This danger is to neglect Sabbath rest. This pitfall is ever-present and evermore difficult to see; especially for those who fill their calendars with good and righteous intent.
How appropriate that the writer of Hebrews urges the reader to ‘strive to enter rest.’ God’s rest is easily available, yet we must swim upstream against the resistance of culture, conflicting interests, and our own pride in order to get there.
Finding rest is not passive. It is an intentional choice against oppositional forces. Those forces which are most concerning are the ones that tempt us toward working ever longer and ever harder because the ends justify the means. What ends? Any number of good, honorable pursuits: being good parents, building careers, serving our community, building the local church, exercising, caring for aging parents, self-care, etc.
These are all good things. Like our Creator said of His own work in Genesis. But unlike our Creator, we can fail to rest from our work, enjoy it, and renew our spirit in the goodness of the Creator.
Why do we not rest? Are we more resilient than God Himself? Do we believe things will fall apart without us? Are we consumed with earning God’s approval? Have we chosen self-care instead of God’s presence?
Are we so consumed with building the Kingdom that we never spend time with the King?
It is easy for our pursuit of good things and Godly things to become corrupted by our culture and by our own insecurities.
Even rest has been coopted by a corrupt form of self-care that falls short of entering God’s rest (Hebrews 4:9-10). Yes, you should care for yourself, but you shouldn’t accept something earthly in exchange for something holy. We must refuse the self-centered and indulgent form of pleasure-seeking rest that fails to connect with the Holy God in Heaven who can renew you from within with His power and mercy.
Exodus 20:8 and Mark 2:27 present both the command to keep sabbath and the heart behind it. Like a strict boundary or rule laid down by a parent to a child; the sabbath is required for us because it is good for us. However, in embracing Jesus’ explanation that ‘Sabbath was made for man’ we must not erase the Holy intent of the commandment: Keep it Holy.
This is essential lest we fall prey to pleasure and leisure and remove God from sabbath altogether. Does your rest invite God in so that you may be truly revitalized or do you go to church for an hour and then binge watch sports and eat whatever your stomach desires? Do you meditate and read an empowering self-help book and tell yourself you’re worth it – how is this different from the world? Is sabbath about you or about God and you, together, reflecting and enjoying the peaceful rest of God’s merciful goodness?
I am guilty of making sabbath unholy. Not anything anyone would condemn as bad. Time with family, sleeping, watching football, eating snacks, having scroll through Instagram. All the while, being blissfully ignorant that my soul is thirsty for the only thing that can quench it, God’s presence.
I urge you as I urge myself,
Put off every hinderance that appears good and meaningful, cast away noble pursuits, and flee from simple leisure. Enter the rest of living God, test and see if He does not satisfy you deeply.
Let us not be so prideful that we ignore the example of rest set by the Creator and sustainer of the universe.
Let us not commit the sin of arrogance in believing that God needs us to accomplish His will.
Let us not be so foolish to think we are holding God’s kingdom together and that our taking rest will mean His failure.
Let us not be tempted to earn God’s love and acceptance through our works and striving when He has given it to us freely.
#sabbath #holiness #sacred #righteousness