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Writer's pictureJill Jarrell Newsome

The Sabbath

When I was in college I would go to my Granny's when I needed a break. She would cook for me and always do my laundry! It was standard procedure, at Granny's, to hang your clothes on the line. There was no need in using electricity or wasting money using a dryer! One particular Sunday I came to visit with my dirty laundry. I washed it and headed to the clothes line and Granny chased me out the back door yelling for me to come back in. I did not know what was wrong. She told me that it was Sunday and we should not hang the clothes out so we used the dryer. That still cracks me up - it was all about what the neighbors would think!


Even to this day I tend to feel guilty about resting. I am high energy and I came from a high energy mother and there is always something to be done. After being sick, I learned to listen to my body and I am much better at resting. I am still working on not feeling guilty. Rest is not being lazy. When I am tired, I try to go sit outside and be in the presence of God.


Exodus 20: 8-11, "“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." Think about that. God made the world in six days and then He rested.


If the Lord rests, what makes us think we are so important that we don't need to rest. Jesus lived a life of active service and quiet retreat. He knew He had to be intentional about withdrawing to be with God. If Jesus needed that you know we do! High energy has nothing to do with our spiritual rest. Ouch! Rest is a weapon given to us by God. The enemy hates it because he wants us to be stressed and preoccupied. The Sabbath is not a restriction but a gift to us! We are invited to just "be" and are freed from the burdens of doing. John 15: 5, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." I need to be intentional about rest!


Rest is not being lazy, in fact it is an investment in our spiritual life. We are being invited to take a day from our worldly worries, burdens and struggles. And we are invited to take a deep rest, not just a nap but a rest that God blessed and can only come from Him! God will restore, replenish and refocus our heart and mind. We will be renewed! We will never regret resting in God! God intends rest, not stress.

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