Think through the last several times that you asked someone how they were. If you are like me, most answered with “Busy. Tired.” It is the theme of our society. We have people to meet and things to do. When someone tells us they are busy or tired, it does not surprise or alarm us because we are just as busy and tired. It is expected.
In our society, it is more than expected. Being busy has become a statement of worth. If someone is busy, it means they have important things to do, which translates to them being important. If we don’t find ourselves as busy as the next person, we add things in so that we, too, can be important busy.
What is your usual answer to, “How are you?? If it was busy or tired, let me ask you this: does Jesus say anything about this in the Bible? Some of you might have thought about verses that say, make the best use of time (Ephesians 5:16), do everything to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31), or work hard as to the Lord (Colossians 3:23). I challenge you to go look at them in context and determine if they mean what you believe them to mean.
In Matthew, Jesus says, Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT). It seems Jesus found us right where we are. Tired, with lots of things to get done. He sets before us an offer of rest.
Have you ever asked a person who answered with busy or tired a follow-up question like, “What makes you so tired?” or “When will you have time to rest?” Simple questions which usually bring a look of bewilderment. The bewilderment can be summed up in the visual of the juggler with several different poles and a plate spinning on each pole. The juggler’s job is to keep all the plates spinning so none stop, fall, and break. It seems to be how most of us feel in life. We think, “If I stop moving, then everything will stop and come crashing down.” We have a heavy burden to maintain. Yet, Jesus says that the burden He gives is light. If keeping the plates going is heavy, then it must mean that it is not the burden that Jesus has given us. And if it is not our burden, it is someone else’s, so we have time to rest.
Sabbath: a day of rest.
There is much confusion and emotion surrounding the word Sabbath. Some of us know nothing about it. We have read it in the Bible, but it was just another word—like some of those unpronounceable names—that we skip over. Some of us remember times in our country when the Sabbath meant that stores were closed. With Sabbath also came limited activities and itchy clothes—not a fun day for a child. Many of us fall somewhere between these two extremes.
Exodus 20 tells us that the Sabbath was to be a day on which the Israelites would rest, as God rested after Creation. God commands these people, who had been forced to work all the time for 400 years, to stop working and rest. God takes away their heavy burden of ceaseless work and gives them rest. That must have been glorious to the Israelites. Yet, if you continue reading the account of their move from slavery to freedom, you will notice the struggles they had with rest.
You see, rest requires safety and security. Those of you who can’t sleep unless you lock the doors know what I am talking about. Or what about those of you who can’t sleep until everyone who resides in your home is in it? Don’t think I am forgetting about those of you who can’t rest if dishes are in the sink or laundry to be put away. Each of us has that one plate that we must keep spinning, and it keeps us from resting.
Now, some of us may have the idea that Sabbath is a rule we must keep. After all, we have talked about the command God gave and how our country once made the Sabbath mandatory by forcing businesses to remain closed on Sundays. Yet, if we remember the character of God as caring and loving, we might see the Sabbath as an invitation. God invited the Israelites to live like kings without the requirement of constant work. We can see this much more clearly with Jesus’ Words.
Jesus explains that the Sabbath was made for people and not people for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). In this statement, Jesus expresses the heart of the Sabbath; it was meant to be a gift of restoration and renewal to the people who observe it. Later in Mark, Jesus invites His co-workers in the Kingdom – the disciples – to go away with Him to a quiet place to rest (Mark 6:31). And let’s not forget the verse from Matthew 11 where Jesus invites the busy and tired to come to Him for rest.
What would it look like for you to accept Jesus’ sweet invitation to rest by taking 24 hours once a week as a Sabbath? No work for 24 hours! Does the idea sound glorious, scary, or a little of both?
Why would the thought of 24 hours without work bring fear? Earlier, I mentioned that rest requires safety and security; these require trust. Consider the fact that we only feel as safe as the trust we have in people or things we rely on to provide protection.
At this point, I could offer scientific reasons for how good rest is for your mental and physical health. I hope that by this point, you consider those a bonus to the invitation Jesus sets before you and want to figure out how to go about accepting His beautiful gift.
When I talk to people about taking 24 hours of rest, many just can’t see how to take that much time away from ‘work.’ Here are a few suggestions:
- Begin with a smaller amount of time: Begin with 8 – 12 hours and work up to 24 hours. Planning the Sabbath from about 6 pm to the following day at 6 pm also seems to make it more accessible.
- Start planning for your Sabbath at the beginning of the week: This will allow you to schedule all the things on your list, which is what Jewish people have done since the Exodus.
- Trust God: If the time for Sabbath comes and the list is not completed, trust in our Savior's humble and gentle heart to keep the important plates spinning.
What does a day of rest consist of?
- You may need sleep: Some of us have been sleep deprived for so long that the body needs actual sleep for a period.
- What about watching TV (video games, social media, etc.) for the whole time? How many times have you felt refreshed after watching TV for an extended period? For most, we would say seldom.
- Delight in God and His gifts: The Sabbath has the added element of delighting in God and the gifts He gives us. What gifts from God could you delight in? Family? Friends? His Word? Nature? Cooking? Exercise?
At the beginning of observing a Sabbath, I recommend you plan what you will do with your time. Here are a few questions that can help you plan your Sabbath. Give several answers to each question.
- What feels like work to you? Putting away laundry feels like work to me – not washing, just putting it away.
- What are some things you enjoy? For me, cooking is a joy most of the time, and then I enjoy the meal with family. For some, cooking feels like work, and that is okay.
- What activities cause you to commune with God? This could be a variety of things, from a walk in nature to an extended time in God’s Word.
Use your answers to these questions to craft a day filled with the things you enjoy, and that cause you to commune with God. Leave out anything that feels like work. Plan for those things like eating if cooking is not a joy for you. Commit to planning and taking a Sabbath for the next two months and consider how it changes your relationship with God and others.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
-Jesus (John 10:10)
Don’t allow the Enemy of our souls to steal, kill, and destroy you with busyness. Take Jesus’ invitation to the abundant life by trusting Him with the burdens of life while you rest and delight in the gifts God has given you.
