(This is apart of the series: Redeeming Rest)
This series is based on a book from, Mark Buchanan
What would your life look like if you took the time to rest?
The best way I have heard Sabbath keeping explained is 52 snow days a year. In Canada, when it snows a lot school is canceled and it is called a snow day. I remember these days as a kid growing up. They were always unexpected and unproductive because you have already accomplished all your homework. Just think of your day off as a snow day. What would your life look like if you rested?
Here is what your life would look like:
You would slow down. There are 52 Sabbath days a year. You could start by asking yourself, How did I get this busy? How did you get so busy that you can’t rest one day a week? Ask the question, What restores you? Is it reading a book, snowboarding, going for coffee with your spouse? Take a “snow day”.
Give up a false sense of balance. You are never going to find balance. Balance is compromising both things in order to become “balanced”. What you need to understand is the rhythms of life. Figure out what season are you in, and figure out what to do in that season.
Redeem the time. The biggest realization is that my time isn’t my time. Everything can become an opportunity for kingdom purposes if we will let it. How are you modelling your time to your children, the students you work with, and your spouse? How can you redeem your Sabbath to focus on Jesus and his kingdom instead of building your kingdom?
Learn to embrace the interruptions. In the Bible, God used interruptions in order to speak into the lives of his people. How do you deal with interruptions? If you are like me, it is easy to blow off the handle when a interruption comes up. Lately, my prayer has been: God what are you doing in this moment?
Sabbath keeping involves community. For some reason when it comes to Sabbath keeping we tend to think of time to ourselves. Mark Buchanan stated that Sabbath is a deep communal activity. He even when on to say that you shouldn’t think of sunday as a work day, but apart of your rest. Initially, that sounded like a ridiculous statement, but when you think of your Sabbath day it should deepen your relationship with God, spouse, family, friends, and others. How can you include the community of God into your rest?
What does your life of rest/unrest look like?
