Schools out and summertime has begun. For teachers and school kids the shift is monumental. For those with round-the-year jobs this can mean more childcare expectations/costs. For many this means planning, preparing and paying for vacations. Whatever the shift from spring to summer means for you, I’m sure it comes with some mixed emotions. Summertime has always been a season of relaxation and refreshment. However, you are planning on using your summer season, I pray it is both relaxing and refreshing.
Christians have inherited the command to rest from our Jewish ancestors. “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” Commandment number 3. Usually marked at sundown the eve before the Sabbath day and finished at sunrise the following day. This allowed for intentional time of worship, sleep and a special meal. Before modern time keeping discerning the moment the Sabbath started and finished was done by all sorts of methods. One method was to hold a white thread and a black thread in your hands, when it was to dark to see which is which, then the Sabbath was on. Sounds a bit silly or weird to us moderns, but when your business depended on filling the whole possible week, knowing when you HAD to be done was REALLY important. In our house we use a paper chain with each link depicting a day to help us keep track of when summertime started.
Finding time to stop working, to stop making things, to stop “progress” has never been easy. Even way back in the 8th century BCE (roughly 10,000 years ago) the Prophet Amos records the Israelites complaining about the length of the Sabbath as they wanted to get back to “business as usual.”
Seems like people have always had a hard time slowing down and resting. Honoring the Sabbath is more work than most are willing to do. We are busy people, kids to shuttle from place to place, money to be made. Overlooking our Sabbath rest can lead to all sorts of issues with our physical bodies, our mental health and our spiritual health. By not allowing our bodies the rest needed we are hurting ourselves and serving no one. I implore you my friends, take this commandment seriously. Honor the Sabbath and give yourself the gift of worship and rest. You will be blessed physically, mentally and spiritually. See you at our Sunday sabbath!
Have a wonderful and restful summer, Pastor Dave
