Out of rest

Sabbath rest is the fourth commandment and a wonderful way to step into God’s blessing.

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. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.  For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11

Ezekiel  20:20
And keep my Sabbaths holy: and they shall be a sign between me and you that you may know that I am Jehovah your God – note 20:20 and the current situation we are in, you could almost say we are in an enforced Sabbath rest.

Sabbath rest or Shabbat as we call it is a feast. Scripture exhorts us to keep the feast and we will be blessed Hebrews 4 1-13

Sadly for many Christians, Sunday has usurped the Sabbath and is not  a day of rest.

So what does Sabbath rest look like…doing what you want to, blessing your soul, staying in Pj’s all day (one of my favourites in the winter), visiting theatres, restaurants, watching the river to make sure it doesn’t stop!! These are a few of my favourite things!!

Sabbath rest is all about trusting God. You know when you really should be working to make that deadline in much the same way as we give offerings that often realistically, we cannot afford; and yet the Lord always makes up the difference. It’s the same with time and Sabbath rest. Sabbath means “to cease”.

God designed us to rest regularly in a world where drive is admired but actually unsustainable. We see too many people arriving at the retreat in ‘burnout’- mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted.

Now more than ever is a good time to develop best practice. Start your Sabbath rest today, implement a sustainable resting rhythm one day a week, and see the blessings flow.

For further information and reading visit: www.gloryofzion.org