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by Lilly Hunter
I have noticed in the past few years the trend of people picking a “word of the year” at the new year. I have attempted it in the past, but I can never remember the word by March, let alone throughout the year. But I like the tradition- less arduous and concrete than resolutions, but a meaningful way to express the possibilities that a new year brings.
So this year, my “word” and my prayer for us as God’s people, is Sabbath. The 7 day cycle, present since the first page of the bible, is inescapable. God has designed us, and modeled for us, a day of rest. We are to put down the labor of the week and be refilled not just with physical rest and sleep but be spiritually filled with the goodness of God. Sabbath in Scripture is not just putting down all the physical and mental work that we do, it is also abiding. We are called to then abide in the presence of the Lord. For each of us that may look different. It can be reading Scripture, singing, turning off our cell phones, sharing a meal with those you love, or getting out and enjoying the goodness of creation.
In biblical days, Sabbath began at sundown on Friday and went until sundown on Saturday. A meal for family, neighbors, and relatives was served at sundown and the leftovers or food prepared in advance was eaten the entire next day. The fellowship of the Sabbath meal would often last into the night- they not only prayed and ate together but they rejoiced and lamented over what the week had brought. Saturday was a day of worship to the Lord and rest for the entire community- the only work that was to be done was to offer sacrifices at the temple.
The Sabbath was not a suggestion in the bible, but one of the main commandments. Part of the guilt of Israel that led to the exile was their failure to practice Sabbath as the Lord commanded. However, in our modern lives Sabbath is an afterthought, something I do for a couple hours a week if I am not “too busy”, a forgotten comment from the pages of the past. Treating Sabbath as an expendable commandment is directly disobedient, but it also dishonors the way that God designed humans. We are made to need a weekly reset, we are designed to put down and abide as a symbol
of our finite nature compared to our infinite God. Not only that, but to neglect the Sabbath is to miss out on the incredible blessing of fellowship with each other and fellowship with God.
My prayer for myself, and for you, this year is to remember the Sabbath. Allow the rhythm of your life to be brought into obedience to God by putting down and abiding as he has commanded. Sabbath doesn’t have to be practiced from Friday night to Saturday night to honor God, it can be a day or a night of your choosing. The importance of the Sabbath is the rest, the awe of our infinite God, and the fellowship that is undeniable. As we learn to submit to God’s Word in this way, I am confident we will reap unknowable rewards and that he will begin the change the rest of our week as well.
“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 58:13-14