Sabbath Rest

Sabbath Rest

Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the LORD.

Exodus 31:13, 15

Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. Then the LORD will be your delight.

Isaiah 58:13-14

It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit.

Revelation 1:10

“I can’t be there; I have an appointment.” That’s what you say when someone asks you to do something and you have a previous commitment. Have you ever thought about the Sabbath as an appointment with God—an appointment you won’t let anything else interfere with? Or is Sunday just a second Saturday to you, a day that you go to church and then do as you please, or get caught up on whatever homework or housework you haven’t gotten done during the week? What makes the Sabbath special at your house? Anything?

God said to “be careful to keep my Sabbath day.” To be careful is to be intentional. If we’re going to treat Sunday as a special holy day (a day set apart, different from all other days), we have to make some plans or set some boundaries for how we will or will not spend the day. Now that can sound like making rules that will sap all the joy out of the day. But really the Sabbath is a gift to us from God. To enjoy that gift requires that we set some plans in place to intentionally rest from the work we do on other days. That gives us a chance to think about, talk to, celebrate, and enjoy God. We have a Sunday appointment with him that we would not think of canceling for anything ordinary.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

What could your family do to make Sundays special and set apart from other days?

How can we keep the Sabbath faithfully without becoming legalistic?

What can you or your family eliminate from Sundays so that you can focus more on resting and relating to God?