“One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?’ And he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.'”
– Mark 2:23-28 ESV
“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
STOP
Shabbat: To cease
Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
– Psalm 127:1-2 ESV
“The Sabbath is God’s antidote for our hurried, harried pace of life… That seventh day is a space for us to enter into a needed recovery — and perhaps go through the inevitable withdrawals — from the hurry, drivenness, and workaholism that plague so many of our lives, families, communities, and organizations. On the Sabbath, hurry becomes a vice, the exact opposite of our workaday world’s way of making it a virtue.” – Alan Fadling
REST
“It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.”
– Exodus 31:17 ESV
“The Hebrew evening/morning sequence conditions us to the rhythms of grace. We go to sleep, and God begins his work. As we sleep, he develops his covenant. We wake and are called to participate in God’s creative action. We respond in faith, in work. But always grace is previous and primary. We wake into a world we didn’t make, into a salvation we didn’t earn.” – Eugene Peterson
DELIGHT
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”
– Genesis 2:1-3 ESV
CONTEMPLATE
-
- “I don’t want to become a legalist.”
- “Is this part of the law we don’t have to follow anymore?”
- One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
- “I’d practice sabbath if I had the time.”
PRACTICE
“If you watch your step on the Sabbath
and don’t use my holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
God’s holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,’
making money, running here and there—
Then you’ll be free to enjoy God!
Oh, I’ll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I’ll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob.”
Yes! God says so!
– Isaiah 58:13-14 MSG