Remember the Sabbath

 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath   and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight   and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way  and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,  then you will find your joy in the Lord,  and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 58:13-14 (NIV)

The Sabbath does not have to be something we wait for Sunday to observe.  The Sabbath can be a place in our hearts where we intentionally set aside time to be with God, to sit at his feet, put our head in His lap and allow Him to minister to us. Today I found myself in need of a time of Sabbath, a few hours to rest and rejuvenate.

The day started off rotten, I woke up in a bad mood.  Everything I touched, did or thought was off.  I spilled a cup of coffee all over my first outfit of the day and made a mess on the table that I really did not have the time to deal with.  It is one week until Christmas, and I have shopping to do, groceries to buy, wrapping to get done and about 50 loads of laundry.

So today I frantically scramble. I feel out of touch—out of touch with my spouse, out of touch with my family and perhaps most of all, out of touch with God. Is there a way to get back in touch?

God has given us time for a welcome, refreshing rest from our weekly labors, a time during which we no longer must be absorbed in our ordinary daily cares and concerns—a time for spiritual rejuvenation.  It is called the Sabbath.

So today I stopped, I made a cup of my favorite tea, I lit a candle, I put on some worship music, and I opened my bible.  In Isaiah 58: 13-14 it talks about not doing as you please on a holy day (shopping?  Frantic running around?), and to call the Sabbath a delight so that then you will find your joy in the Lord.

So, even though tomorrow is the Sabbath day, and our family will go to church, worship and spend time together as a family, today I needed to take a Sabbath moment, a time out from a hectic week of school, work and ministry and honor that Sabbath time to sit at the feet of Jesus and allow Him to minister to my needs.

Thank you, Father, that you are my place of rest, for washing the dirt off of my feet so that I may continue to minister to the needs of others this week. Thank you for all that you have brought me through and for refreshing me for the next step in our journey together.   Amen