The power of the Sabbath//

In Hebrew the word Sabbath is the word Shabbat, which means to cease work, or to rest.  The command is essentially to do what God did – to have one day that’s different from everything else.  Over time, we have evolved Sabbath into a list of things you don’t do, but the essence of the Sabbath command wasn’t something you didn’t do; Sabbath was something you did.  It was in a gift from God to his people who were slaves in Egypt and had never had a day off in their lives.

Mark 2:27 ”And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”

Rest can almost seem like a swear word in today’s society as the generic answer to the question, “How are you going?” is always, “Busy”, and it’s almost shameful to answer any other way. To get our heads around the power of this activity is difficult as it sounds so unproductive, but when we do start to tap into it we can find a resource that can equip us to go much further in life.

Recently, I had the pleasure of going on an extended Sabbath with my wife for 7 weeks. We went back home to South Africa to visit family and friends and then spent 4 weeks travelling Europe. In this time, I learnt about the power of rest and what it can do for every aspect of your life (apart from my health which suffered pretty badly due to all the Nutella gelatos I managed to consume while in Italy). Coming back, I feel like a new man with renewed strength and ready for the challenges God has in store.

Are you feeling tired? Drained? Like the tank is running on empty? Perhaps what you need is not more time, but rather to take some time out and Sabbath.