“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8)
Scanning the house one last time, we checked for missed items before our departure. The trailer was packed. Suitcases, cooler, lawn chairs all meticulously laying in their neatly engineered spaces, every inch accounted for. I pulled the door shut and locked up behind us, we were finally leaving for a much needed holiday.
As the miles between our home and our vehicle grew, our hearts and minds began to settle in to vacation mode. It was a time of joyous rest and celebration of the summer heat! A time away from the ordinary and somewhat draining routine, to step into the extraordinary and refresh our minds and souls once again. Upon return our rhythm would be reset to one of slow simplicity, and filled with wonder from all that we had explored.
It seems as though, at least in our home, we wait with bated breath for the calendar months to flip to the beauteous months of summer before we feel we are deserving of a time out. We bustle and rush, and finally the days are long and hot, and we clamour for an excuse to depart from routine.
Oh, but the beauty of God’s rhythm…
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Ex 20:11)
Rest.
No, not rest as we see it. The Hebrew word “shabbat” is not one indicative of a weary work-worn individual, but rather, and perhaps more simply, it is the cessation of work.
God stopped.
For six days he worked, and “it was good", He was satisfied with His creation. On the seventh day He stopped working because there was nothing left to add. It was perfect and complete, lacking nothing. As such, it was, and is, to be set apart (holy) as a day to be celebrated.
God gave a routine and rhythm for us to abide by so our deep longing to escape the weary days of ordinary would be interrupted with a day of extraordinary each and every week. A day where we intentionally pause from our busyness to celebrate His goodness, His perfection, His provisions, His redemption. We don’t stop out of a rigid, legalistic need to stop, but rather we stop to come together and rejoice in all that He is, and all He has given. It is a shift from our busyness, to a deep contentedness of joyous worship and understanding that it is God alone who carries the weight of our weeks and weakness.
Here we find a holy rhythm that flows from our adoration of The Lord's providence. Let us lap from His living waters and refresh our souls in the stillness of the Sabbath.
All my love,