“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” – Psalm 23:1-3

“Abraham Joshua Heschel once observed, ‘Unless one learns how to relish the taste of Sabbath while still in the world, unless one is initiated in the appreciation of eternal life, one will be unable to enjoy the taste of eternity in the world to come.’ We are simply naive if we think that having wasted or squandered the many good gifts of this creation, we will not do the same with the gifts of heaven. Sabbath practice, on this view, is a sort of training ground for the life of eternity, a preparation for the full reception and welcome of the presence of God.” – Norman Wirzba

Pretty much daily, I need to remind my children that my rules and decisions of what they may or may not do are not designed to make them miserable. Last week, Alex wanted to attend a friend’s Pokemon party, where all of the boys in his fourth grade class would spend a Saturday afternoon together, trading and playing (or whatever they do) Pokemon cards.

When I saw the party invite, I did the internal eye-roll of the century. Just recently, I’d sort-of-accidentally come across information on the origin and spirit of Pokemon that brought me a new perspective on the seemingly harmless kids game. Of all the party themes. Pokémon. Why not soccer or LEGOS or laser tag? So then I was faced with the decision to let him do the party or…not. Considering what I’d read about Pokemon’s occult themes (mind-reading, dream-eating(??), teleportation, sorcery and hypnosis), in addition to the game offering really nothing redemptive to experiencing God’s glory, I said ‘no.’

Much to my son’s dismay. Temporary, to the extent of maybe an hour of pouting, but dismay nonetheless.

I said ‘no’ for what I believe is best for my son’s heart, spirit and soul–and because I’m accountable to him. I didn’t say ‘no’ because I was bored and looking for a new rule or wanted to flex my authority. And I didn’t say ‘yes’ because it was a typical thing that a lot of kids–even kids from Christian homes–take part in, thus convincing myself that it’s harmless fun (Luke 6:26 MSG).

My point in all of that is, this parental operating is how I choose to see God the Father’s commands and covenants with his children. Me and you. Everyone. They aren’t designed to assert power over us for the sake of keeping us subservient. He’s the Lord and creator of the universe, so yeah, we are subject to his power regardless. But his directives are all for the ultimate good of his Kingdom–not cold-hearted tyranny.

This takes me to God’s commandment about Sabbath rest. Not a suggestion. Not a preference. God commands us to remember and honor the Sabbath. Not only is taking a day to rest a direct order from the Lord Almighty (Exodus 20:8), it’s inarguably good for us.

A few years back, I realized that I got (and still get) annoyed by the responses “I’m busy” or “I’m tired” to the question, “How are you?” For one, they seemed way overused. Of all of the things a person could be, one (or both) of those is one’s best “go-to” in describing his/her status at the time? For as boring as being tired or busy is, at least it’s honest. And super typical.

Unless we’re only saying it to sound impressive, like, we’re tired due to the volume of busyness going on because we’re so successful or whatever (which, really…when does kind of life descriptor ever impress anyone?), by choosing that lifestyle, we’re choosing to make ourselves slaves.

In Deuteronomy, the Israelites were reminded that the Lord, with his mighty hand and outstretched arm, had delivered them from slavery in Egypt. Thus, to keep us from ever being prone–or worse, forced–to constant work again, He made us liberated people by commanding a day for rest.

“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 ox, donkey or any of your animals…so that your servants may rest as you do.” (Deut. 5:13-14)

Eugene Peterson says, “The Deuteronomy reason for Sabbath-keeping is that our ancestors in Egypt went for four hundred years without a vacation. Never a day off. The consequence: they were no longer consider persons but slaves. Hands. Work units. Not persons created in the image of God, but equipment for making brick and building pyramids. Humanity was defaced.”

Just yesterday, my friend Analee pointed out via a Facebook post how a person is asked to step down from office or ministerial positions after an adulterous act, but is often applauded for his tenacity when he works on Sabbath. Both honoring the Sabbath and not committing adultery are written in the Ten Commandments.

Something another friend of mine pointed out is how often we as believers, when we DO acknowledge Sabbath rest, will still hit up grocery stores, restaurants or other places of consumerism, and ask others to serve us on a day of rest. Kind of arrogant, right? Resting on our day of Sabbath, while still asking others to not rest by taking care of us? Whew. That’s convicting. And something I for sure need to work on, big time.

As I’ve come to understand more what Sabbath is, and choose to abide by God’s kindhearted directive of it more, it’s revealed how much change this requires in the way I live my life. There are a LOT of things I want to do on Sabbath, but not always because I truly want to–I feel like I need to. I don’t trust that taking a day off of work will relax me and put me in a better position to be effective and full for the six days following. Sometimes, it’s about fear of missing out on something. Other times, it’s a fear of getting behind in the rat race that is often my life. Ugh. Rat race. Talk about a humanity-defacing term to describe one’s life.

I’ll end with this great quote by Wayne Muller:

“Sabbath is not dependent upon our readiness to stop. We do not stop when we are finished. We do not stop when we complete our phone calls, finish our project, get through this stack of messages, or get out this report that is due tomorrow. We stop because it’s time to stop.

Sabbath requires surrender. If we only stop when we are finished with all our work, we will never stop–because our work is never completely done. With every accomplishment there arises a new responsibility…If we refuse rest until we are finished, we will never rest until we die. Sabbath dissolves the artificial urgency of our days, because it liberates us from the need to be finished…

We stop because there are forces larger than we that take care of the universe, and while our efforts are important, necessary, and useful, they are not (nor are we) indispensable. The galaxy will somehow manage without us for this hour, this day, and so we are invited–nay commanded–to relax, and enjoy our relative unimportance, our humble place at the table in a very large world…

Do not be anxious about tomorrow, Jesus said again and again. Let the work of this day be sufficient…

Sabbath says, Be still. Stop. There is no rush to get to the end, because we are never finished.”