Not too long ago, I Googled “How to Take a Sabbath.” I honestly didn’t know how to do it, and I wanted to do it well.
Yes… I’ve been a Christian for 18 years and wasn’t sure how to take a Sabbath.
Yes… I’m a Keynote speaker who has taught multiple people about freedom in Christ, but I’m still trying to figure out what Sabbath looks like.
Yes… I lead worship on Sunday mornings and had to google “How to take a Sabbath.”
A relationship with Jesus is a daily walk—hopefully, in the right direction—and I strive to keep doing that. God had been gently nudging me to make the Sabbath a priority. My heart desired to honor that, but I didn’t know how.
My idea of taking a Sabbath was this: You aren’t supposed to do anything. You can’t wash a dish, cook dinner, or anything else. You just have to sit in a chair and “rest” all day. Sitting in the chair and resting sounds great. Not washing dishes or cooking sounds even better. But when I began to think about it, it felt like a checklist of things we weren’t allowed to do in order to be closer to God and honor a day He’s called to be set apart. That just doesn’t sound like the God I know.
A while back, I was reading a book from Dutch Sheets, and he was talking about the Sabbath. It was so eye-opening. The Sabbath, also known as Shabbat in Hebrew, is far more than just a dull day set aside to make sure you don’t do anything so that you don’t upset God. Shabath, the Hebrew word for Sabbath, means not only “to stop or cease from work” but also “to celebrate.”
Dutch writes, “In much the same way we celebrate certain days – holidays, for example – by resting from work, this is the concept of Shabath. On the seventh day, God stopped working and celebrated! He was so excited about having a family that He decided it would be commemorated with a “rest and celebration day.” That puts a new twist on taking a sabbath. Every seventh day, we should all rest and celebrate our membership in God’s family with joy and great rejoicing. If we would do so, the gospel we preach would be a lot more appealing. Abandon your concept of a passionless, boring God. Reject all religious stereotyping of Him. Let your heavenly Father be real, relevant, relational and fun. Only then will you truly experience the pleasure of His company.”
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Isn’t that so good? Yes, Sundi Jo. Abandon your concept of a passionless, boring God.
Back to my Google search. Between working full-time, leading a church, and building my dreams in music, I’m still figuring out how to balance it all. As I brought it to the Lord, He kept reminding me about the Sabbath—about rest, about celebration.
So, not long ago, I picked a day and decided I was going to do this Sabbath thing. I had no clue what I was doing, but I was determined to do it. I decided it would start after I got home from church and run through Monday.
I came home, finished up a couple of church tasks, took a nap, and woke up ready to go. Except I didn’t know what I was ready to do. I journaled, read, ate something, and watched some TV. I got so anxious about Sabbathing that I didn’t rest or celebrate at all. So, I drove to my best friend’s house and played Mario with my nephew.
When I got home that evening, I Googled “How to take a Sabbath.” Surprise, a variety of articles came up, but one in particular caught my attention. I wish I had saved it.
But something he said stuck out to me. The author shared that those who are creative all day should try to do something with their hands on the Sabbath, and those who work with their hands or do physical labor all week should do something creative. I really liked the idea.
So, the following week, I decided to try again. I finished some touches on cleaning the garage, then I rearranged my living room. I started to feel guilty because I felt like I was working, but then I talked to the Lord about it. He asked me what I was feeling while I was rearranging. “Excitement,” I said. “Excitement that I was doing something new. And it made me feel happy.” And I knew the Lord was smiling, too, because, at that moment, I had rested. I had celebrated. Because I was still walking with Him. I was singing to worship music blaring while I was figuring out where I wanted my couch. I didn’t stress about it. I didn’t look at the clock, wondering if I was sabbathing right. It was peace. It was peace because I took God out of that box I tend to put Him in.
Last weekend, I planted a garden with my adult bff and my mini bff. We had to weed the garden beds and I did some sweating. But then we planted and watered, and I stared at something I’d helped make. Something that would give back – vegetables that would nourish the body God gave me and called me to take care of. And I didn’t pay attention to the time. I was just present. And I know it made God smile.
So, here I am, still trying to figure out this Sabbathing journey. Still trying to figure out how to rest and celebrate with God. Still trying to figure out how to honor His desire for me to take one day and reset with Him. And I’m so grateful for His grace on the journey.
What are some of your favorite things to do on the Sabbath?
