Rest

The 10 commandments have been fascinating me today as I’m reading through Deuteronomy. Here’s my other post on them.

I think it’s interesting that in the 10 commandments, God spends more time on the sabbath command than any of the other ones. Sabbath gets 4 verses, the others get one each.

Why?

I think for a few reasons, it is the hardest one to keep. It is the one that takes the most faith because it requires us to give up control. When we sleep, when we rest, we stop doing things. The things we stop doing are often the things we find our identity from. We stop working, which at least for me, is easy to get my identity from. After all, I get paid for my job. I do it for most of my week. People know me as a pastor. It is easy for this to be my identity. I also need to work to provide for my family so we have money to live, so it is important to say the least.

But what do you do on Sabbath? Are you allowed to do anything?

Deuteronomy tells us to keep the Sabbath holy. The word holy means different, set apart. This means our Sabbath should be different from our other days. Have a different pace, a different rhythm. A different goal because “we are to keep it holy to the Lord.” If the goal of work is to make money, provide. The goal of Sabbath is not that. Sabbath is to be slower, more enjoyable, a stopping of those other things that we do the other 6 days.

Sabbath might mean playing with your kids, taking a nap, watching a movie, reading, taking a run, eating a slow, long meal with friends.

It is to be restful, recharging, different.

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