Invitation to Rest

Of all the 10 Commandments, the fourth commandment—which has the most
description of any of the commandments—is often the one we tend to disregard the most. Even
though we can recount the Genesis rhythm of “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy”,
we have very little understanding or experience with this practice. This is, in part, because most
of our experiences with this concept have been negative and have been rooted in
misunderstandings of the biblical theme of Sabbath: do nothing on Sundays; do only ‘spiritual
things’, or do it with a spirit of legalism that is oppressive and anything but life-giving.

And yet, in our frenetic pace of life, “remote work” which blurs the boundaries between
work and home, and 24/7 accessibility technologically, is it possible a better life awaits us if we
would follow God’s design? He is the Creator, after all. Isn’t it possible He actually knows how
human beings flourish best? The goal of this series is not only to discover how to keep the
Sabbath, but to appreciate how the Sabbath can keep us—holy and whole human beings, at
peace and at rest with God, ourselves, one another, and our world. Our end goal is not to
become self-righteous in how we practice Sabbath-keeping—even if we do, in the end, decide to
do that—but rather, to cultivate a spirit of restfulness regularly in our lives, enabling the Spirit’s
transformative work on our lives. Whether we choose to practice one 24-hour period of rest or
whether we incorporate windows of rest into our daily rhythm, the goal is to have a greater
appreciation for the rhythm of work and rest as designed by God for our good.