SHARON MAWHINNEY
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. Exodus 20:8-10
Rest is not something I find easy - it is something I have to be very intentional about. There is always something in the calendar that needs done or somewhere to be. Rest for me is stepping away from work pressure, life organising and mentally setting aside the tasks and demands on my time.
On looking at the definition of rest it says; rest, sleep or recover strength. This has really helped me think of rest as something that helps me recover my strength. As much as we think we need to do it all, as humans, we cannot possibly fulfil this. We have a capacity, we are supposed to rest. Rest is vital to allow us to step into the next day or week refreshed, ready, recovered.
The practicality of a Sabbath was really hard for me - so I had to redefine what it looked like in my life. A few years ago I started intentionally scheduling time for different kinds of restorative rest. It started as dinner with friends, time to read, walking, and time out with God. It has become something that I work around instead of squeezing in. I know that when it’s blocked out in the calendar, I’m not supposed to be anywhere other than exactly where I am. I now purposely set time aside for things that are building and restorative of energy.
God who is in control of everything took a day to rest - not because He was tired, but to enjoy what he had created. We have to trust that on taking a day of rest, that God will still be in our every move and the world will not fall apart.
If you are struggling with a full day Sabbath, why not try a few intentional hours. Schedule time for yourself, to recover your strength and enjoy the life God has created around you.
Christian Fellowship Church is a Christ centred community dedicated to impacting Belfast, Ireland and the nations with the love of God in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Christian Fellowship Church (CFC) is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission of Northern Ireland: NIC101476
Christian Fellowship Church
10 Belmont Road
Belfast
BT4 2AN
rules are in place to guide our actions and protect us from harm.
When God gave a set of 10 commands to His people. we learn that these commands were designed to keep them from harm. Even more, these rules served as a guide for how to live a life close to God. As Sharon has said sometimes it’s hard to but things in place to purposely set time aside for things that are building and restorative of energy. Which of the Ten Commandments is most difficult to put into practice in your life?
Have a great weekend everyone
Reading this chapter, and looking at the Ten Commandments, I my self could never fully keep any of them perfectly.
I feel God give these commandment to show us, without him it is impossible for us to live by them. But through Jesus we can.
Our God is just so gracious, so loving and full of mercy.
What wise instructions! They give us the skeleton of what life looks like when lived under the rule and reign of the One true God. Devotion to Him would mean living like this. They weren’t oppressive instructions but meant to be lifegiving for the Israelites, and for us as His people today, like Sharon says above.
It’s a good way to live: God warns of the effects of sin on succeeding generations, to the third and fourth generation, but then He speaks of how He lavishes unfailing love for a THOUSAND generations on those who love Him and obey His commands.
That’s amazing! Aren’t we blessed!