My own approach has been far less deliberate and far less God-honoring.  I took a very negative view of Sabbath-keeping: the Sabbath is just a day where you don’t do certain things.  Well, being an under-credited Senior I had many of that type of day, so I was all set!  Of course, it’s not supposed to work like that.  I was missing the point.

John Piper gave a very comprehensive, very good sermon on this a few decades ago, and I encourage you to read it.  It has helped sharpen my thinking greatly.  Here is some of what I’ve learned:

First, Jesus didn’t abolish the Sabbath command of the Old Testament – he clarified it. The Sabbath has existed since God created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th.  As with much of the OT law, it was significantly distorted over time and became very legalistic.  At it’s simplest, it became, “I keep the Sabbath, so God will love me.”  WRONG.  It should be, “God loves me, so I get to keep the Sabbath.”

One of the most important NT texts on the Sabbath is Matthew 12:1-12.  In it, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for their flawed view of the Sabbath.  He gives examples of how people such as David and the Priests broke the Pharisees rules, and still kept the Sabbath.  He points to the phrase, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” as the hinge on which the meaning of Sabbath-ing lies.  Takeaway: we should still Sabbath, but it’s not about legalistic rules – it’s about something so much better.

Second, the Sabbath is a special day set apart to focus on God. We should always be focused on God, but there is a difference between the continual focus and special focus.  1 Thess 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  That doesn’t mean that all we do is pray, and it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t set apart time specifically for prayer.  So it is with the Sabbath and focusing on God – we should always do it, but we do it in a special way when we devote 1 out of every 7 days specifically to it.

Third, the Sabbath is God’s gift to us. It is not a burden.  It is a gift.  It becomes a burden when we don’t recognize what it is for.  It becomes a burden when we take a negative view of it, like I was doing.  The Sabbath isn’t simply a day to not do certain things.  It is a day for certain things – namely focusing on God.  What does that look like?  Reading the Bible, praying, fellowshipping with other believers, going to church and listening to preaching of the Bible, reading Christian books.  It is a day set apart to make yourself happy in God and to meditate on and celebrate His goodness to us.

Fourth, the Sabbath helps us rely on God. An illustration of this was how when the Israelites were wandering in the desert for 40 years and had to rely on manna for food.  God provided them manna six days of the week.  Each day they could gather enough for that day, but they any they didn’t use would spoil and not be good the next day.  The exception was the Sabbath – God built Sabbath-ing in to the manna-giving system.  The Israelites were not going to be given manna on the Sabbath, but instead were allowed to collect 2 days worth of manna the day before, and trust God that it would not spoil like it usually did.

What this means for us?  In the working world, it means trusting God to live off of six days of income, not seven.  In the academic world, it means trusting God to live off of six days of studying, not seven.  Romans 8:32 – “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”  God will sustain you.

Subpoint: Sabbathing can reveal idols. It will show you where you are relying on yourself instead of God.  It will show you where you don’t believe God will take care of you.  Might be your money.  Might be your grades.  It will test your faith.  And since ultimately Sabbath-ing isn’t about what you don’t do but what you do, it will grow your faith.

Of course, I’m generalizing a lot, but I hope I’m being clear.  What to take away: the Sabbath should be treasured, not feared.  I personally like to look at it starting from that “pray continually” perspective – at all times, we should be in some level of interaction with God.  Daily, my Quiet Time is like a mini-Sabbath, set apart to focus and meditate on God (and rely on Him, since there is always something else I could be doing).  Weekly, I get to Sabbath, set apart to focus and meditate on God in a broader set of activities than what QT allows.

Thoughts?  Things I’m missing?

-Ben

I am a Calvinistic, charismatic, complementarian, Christian hedonist. If that weren’t enough to confuse you, I am also amillennial and baptistic, though I believe in rule by a plurality of Elders and maintain a moderately sacramental perspective on the spiritual presence of Christ in the Eucharist (there’s a word that reflects my four years in an Anglican church!).

It’s very interesting, but I think I agree with most everything he writes, at least the stuff I’m familiar with.  I don’t know enough eschatology to be “amillennial” yet.  I grew up Anglican, so his comments about the Eucharist are very interesting to me (and I think will spur me to a little study/research to develop a more thorough position).  He says that he’s tentatively old earth – I would say I’m the opposite.  Some of the finer points, I haven’t thought too much about: are infants who die elect?  how precisely does the theology of physical healing work?

-Ben