Re: Think 1-25-09
Written on January 26, 2009 by Matt
This is our Sunday Re: Think, an opportunity for us to continue to think on the events of last Sunday.
Well people, after a long layoff from the blog world we return. Seminary is done and hopefully posting can return to some semblance of normality, whatever that resembled before.
Yesterday we wrapped up our month long look at the Creation Story by camping out on Sabbath. We saw that Sabbath rest is an oft overlooked element of life for us, and God’s desire for us in Sabbath is a return to a healthy life rhythm of work and rest. Looking at Genesis 2:1-3, we saw Sabbath rest as something that is Practical, Spiritual, and Eternal.
Many of the reasons we fail to practice Sabbath rest are ridiculous at best. We fail to Sabbath because we think if we do, things wont get done, or we wont have enough to get by. For most Americans, the failure to rest is driven by consumerism and greed more than the need to pay bills. We asked the question of what matters more to our families; having a couple extra bucks at the end of the month, or us spending time together.
Life is more than work and Sabbath is about rest, enjoyment and pleasure from labor. This is why God rested, not because He was tired, or His cosmic muscles ached, but because it was Good. He enjoyed the fruit of His labor.
The practicality of Sabbath is not limited to doing nothing, although it can be. Sabbath isn’t restrained to taking x number of steps or total lack of physical activity. As Jesus reminds us in Mark 2, “Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath” . The focus should be weaving a healthy rhythm of work and rest into the fabric of our lives. It is not essential that our Sabbath happen necessarily on Sunday, as Paul reminds us in Colossians 2:16-17, but rather that we in fact do Sabbath. We need to take time to reconnect, breath.
Later in the week, we will look at the other two elements of Sabbath rest, the spiritual and the eternal, but until then, a few questions to ponder:
Are you taking time to breath?
When’s the last time you rested, or ceased from labor?
Why is it difficult to Sabbath?
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