Give God The Day

Move your heart closer and closer to God, and He will come even closer to you. James 4:8 TPT

 We ask Jesus, what would You have us You do on the Sabbath?  He answers....

Rest

Refocus

Recharge

Because my friends, Sabbath time spent with God singing worship, praying a conversation with Jesus, inviting Holy Spirt into our heart - it restores and reenergizes us. I wrote down a few ideas to prepare for our regular Sabbath:

Preparing the Schedule: Schedule your chosen day of Sabbath rest. Without making a commitment in advance to keep the Sabbath, our time will naturally fill up with work and errands and chores and life.

Preparing the Space: Prepare your home,   Throughout the week let’s stay on top of the bigger house chores, like laundry and washing dishes so that we don’t feel pressure to “clean up first” on the Sabbath morning and then set up for the simplest meals.

Preparing the Soul: Most importantly we are called by God to prepare ourselves for Sabbath.  Prepare yourself in prayer—tell God that you are giving Him the day. Think through which elements of worship, play, celebration, and rest would most nurture you and draw you closer to Jesus. Is it communal worship or a rigorous day-hike? Alone time with a book or a fellowship dinner with brothers and sisters in Christ? 

Re-Read Exodus 20:8–11. What might a typical Sabbath look like for you? What role would singing in worship have? What types of hobbies are most restful for you?

Sabbath-keeping is uniquely challenging in different seasons of life too. (For example: newborns refuse to sleep in, a loved one might need round-the-clock care, a job may force us to work Sundays, etc.) What creative ways might we be able to keep a regular Sabbath, despite these challenges?  Each day has its own set of struggles and hardships. We have jobs to do, time committed to volunteering, relationships to maintain, people to love, and social issues to rectify.   

Let’s get the calendar out and make a plan to keep the Sabbath for four weeks in a row. Dedicate those days to the Lord and be prepared for the ways He will meet you and help you to rest in the newfound slowness.  Sabbath. Stop striving. Start seeking. 

Psalms 46:10 TPT Surrender your anxiety! Be silent and stop your striving and you will see that I am God. I am the God above all the nations, and I will be exalted throughout the whole earth.

Isn’t it freeing to really take Jesus at His word and actually “come to Him” when we’re weary and burdened? To experience His rest “for our souls”? As followers of Jesus, we can do this anytime and don’t have to wait until the Sabbath. 

But the principle of the Sabbath is a healthy one that we GET TO  implement into our lives. It’s wise to set aside time each week where we stop working to get filled back up. Time where we enjoy the relationships closest to us. But it is even wiser to obediently give the Sabbath day to God. And with Jesus saving us and leading our lives, how amazing is it that at any time on every day in any season, we get to experience rest because Jesus is our rest.