April 13th 2025
God Rests, and This Day is Made Holy.
God took a break from laboring. Peter Scazzero, in his book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, distinguishes a "day off" from a "Sabbath" this way. "A day off is often used to replenish our energies and make us more effective on the other six days in a week." Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word 'sabat,' meaning to stop, cease, or keep, but it is more than to stop working.
Scazzero gives four elements of a biblically-based sabbath, which are as follows:
•Stop: Stopping (yes, even if your to-do list is still yelling at you) is one way you embrace our God-given limits.
•Rest: Do what replenishes you instead of working and accomplishing things.
•Delight: After finishing His work, God said, "it was very good." He took time to delight in all he had created.
•Contemplate: Take time to think about God in detail.
Question:
Do you take a Sabbath? If so, what does it look like? If not, why not?
Prayer focus:
Take a moment and ask God what His invitation toward rest (taking a break from regular life activities) might look like in your context.
God took a break from laboring. Peter Scazzero, in his book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, distinguishes a "day off" from a "Sabbath" this way. "A day off is often used to replenish our energies and make us more effective on the other six days in a week." Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word 'sabat,' meaning to stop, cease, or keep, but it is more than to stop working.
Scazzero gives four elements of a biblically-based sabbath, which are as follows:
•Stop: Stopping (yes, even if your to-do list is still yelling at you) is one way you embrace our God-given limits.
•Rest: Do what replenishes you instead of working and accomplishing things.
•Delight: After finishing His work, God said, "it was very good." He took time to delight in all he had created.
•Contemplate: Take time to think about God in detail.
Question:
Do you take a Sabbath? If so, what does it look like? If not, why not?
Prayer focus:
Take a moment and ask God what His invitation toward rest (taking a break from regular life activities) might look like in your context.
Genesis 2:1-4 New Living Translation
2 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested[a] from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
4 This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.
The Man and Woman in Eden
When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
Exodus 20:8-11 New Living Translation
8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
2 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested[a] from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
4 This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.
The Man and Woman in Eden
When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
Exodus 20:8-11 New Living Translation
8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.