A Day in the {Sabbath} Life

“If the point of Sabbath is to rest, then yeah, I Sabbath a bit on the weekends. I mean, is there really anything special about an actual 24 hours?” I shrugged, not wanting one more expectation laid on me.

“You could just try it,” my friend challenged. “See if a full day set aside makes a difference for you.” Her gentle smile eluded to much more than her words: she knew the secret of Sabbath, and she was daring me to try to find it. 

Challenge accepted. My competitive nature goaded me on before I could really even think through what a day of Sabbath would look like for me.

I could easily list the parts of my life that would not rest, no matter how I structured my day: young children with their hungry tummies and proclivity for mess; the stress of living cross-culturally and never being able to know for certain if I was being understood or understanding the goings-on around me; a husband who worked no less than four demanding positions at our international school; and the tropical heat. 

Those were all daily realities that, to be perfectly honest, I wanted to escape from. But I doubted that God-honoring Sabbath time was actually about escape. What, then, is it?

Then, this same dear friend who pitched her challenge earlier also threw me a rope. She handed me The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan, and with it, a whole new mindset toward Sabbath. 

I had guessed rightly–Sabbath is not escapism, and it is not a big list of don’ts. 

Sabbath is gift.

“Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath…” (Ex. 16:29a, emphasis mine)

“…the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Ex. 20:11b, emphasis mine)

“The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant.” (Ex. 31:16, emphasis mine)

“…if you call the Sabbath day a delight, and the Lord’s day honorable…” (Isa.58:13b, emphasis mine)

“If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Mat. 12:7-8, emphasis mine)

“Then [Jesus] said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’” (Mark 2:27, emphasis mine)

It is a day given. A day blessed. A day to celebrate and delight. A day to show mercy. A day for us–for you.

More and more, I am convinced that what we do with our bodies is a direct reflection of our souls. When I cease spinning the contraptions of my own life and instead gratefully receive the gift of Sabbath with my entire being, I am demonstrating a soul at rest in the sufficiency and goodness of God.

Yes, that’s a lovely way of thinking about it, I can hear you saying, but how do you actually do Sabbath?

I can’t tell you what practically receiving the gift of Sabbath looks like in your life, but I can offer to you what I am learning to lean into on my Sabbath and pray that it inspires you. 

And because cheesy mnemonic devices work, here’s one for the word REST:

Remember

Enjoy

Surrender

Thanksgiving

These are some of the key attributes of Sabbath (that I’ve discovered so far–I’m sure there is much more for me to learn!). Now, let’s look at them practically.

REMEMBER

After dinner on Saturday nights, I wash the dishes so they won’t pile up too much the next day, tuck the kids in bed, and read (or at this point reread) a chapter out of The Rest of God. (I think Mudhouse Sabbath might be my next go-to.) This helps me remember the heart of Sabbath and prepares my soul to receive the Father’s gift in it.

From this point on, I am free. Free from the obligation of replying to emails, keeping a tidy house, fretting over food choices, planning my next week. I’m free to simply be. 

This is also a good time to remember the events, emotions, and stirrings of the Spirit from the past week. Is there anything I need to repent of? Did I enjoy friendship with Jesus daily? Are there lingering feelings I need to give voice to, examining their validity? When did I drift farthest from awareness of God’s presence? What truths has the Spirit been impressing on my heart?

This can look like journaling, although for me, at this point, it’s usually more of a simple and sweet conversation in prayer.

Then, sleep. 

Of all the nights of the week that we stay up too late and don’t love our weak bodies as we should, this is a good night to aim for a full dose of sleep.

ENJOY and SURRENDER

I wake up, and before I roll out of bed, I recite a simple prayer from one of my favorite authors, Brennan Manning. It is this: Abba, I belong to you. Again, the liturgy helps me remember. 

With these words, I surrender my need to achieve, my desire for perfection, my longing for control, and all the other self-imposed and others-imposed expectations for who I should be. I am a dearly beloved child of God and a friend of Jesus. No more, no less.  I belong to Him, and with this surrendered heart, I begin my Sabbath day.

This is a day to enjoy.

I move through it slowly, savoring the gift of the present. We eat simply on Sabbath–cereal or bagels, leftovers, cheap market food–and I release myself from the mommy guilt of fussing over well-balanced nutrition. I leave the dishes, the dirty clothes, and most of the scattered toys. I want to enjoy my children on Sabbath, not feel burdened by the need to care for them perfectly. They, too, are a gift from the Lord, and Sabbath helps me remember.

We worship with friends at a simple house church. We enjoy fellowship, learning from one another, sharing our prayers, and rejoicing in the Lord. It’s cluttered and chaotic, with more people in one living room than is reasonable and kids playing underfoot the whole time, but I’m not leading Sunday School and I’m deepening the relationships that give me life. As a missionary, I’ve learned I need that simplicity in church.

In the afternoon, I might read or play a game with the kids before heading to the school for some casual, and often hilarious, volleyball. I enjoy these things, and Sabbath is the gift of time and space to unwrap the fullness of God in all kinds of creative ways.

After dinner, I allow myself to turn my thoughts toward the week ahead. But before I let go of Sabbath, I’ve discovered one more practice that helps the joy of it stick in my heart.

THANKSGIVING

When receiving a gift, we say thanks. And in the gratitude, we acknowledge that we don’t deserve what was given, the giver was not obligated to give it, and it means something special to us.

Pausing at the end of Sabbath to give thanks to God for the whole of the day, but also for each treasured moment, has a cementing power. With each Sabbath received and each thanks given, we are constructing an altar to the Lord of grace. 

Let’s not take the gift of Sabbath for granted or turn it into an idol for our own pleasure. Let’s offer grateful hearts to the One who created this day and set it apart as holy. 

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Well, there you have it: a glimpse into a Sabbath day in my life. It’s always growing and changing, as am I, and my keeping of the Sabbath is far from perfect, but I have found the practice of setting aside an actual 24 hours for Sabbath to be more than worth it. I pray that you do, too, and I’d love to hear from you about what a practical Sabbath looks like for you right now, or what, by the grace of God, you long for it to look like.

I already mentioned a couple of books, but if you enjoy podcasts, I think you’d be blessed by Emily P. Freeman’s The Next Right Thing, Episode 40: Keep Your Rest. (You can also download the transcript if you’d prefer to read it).  I love this quote of hers from it:

“If you’re anything like me, the temptation could be to get out your calendar and try to find a time to take a Sabbath. That’s half-way right, but not really. Because a Sabbath is not something you take, it’s something you keep. Sabbath is already yours. The work is not in finding it, the work is in keeping it, protecting it, not giving it away.”

Emily P. Freeman

May you be blessed to keep–or perhaps for the first time find–the gift of Sabbath this week.