Dakota Beerman

This past Wednesday our church house group discussed Sabbath. What do you think about when thinking sabbath? I immediately think about a day of rest. Six days to work, one to do nothing.

What is Sabbath? It is a jewish tradition that comes from the 7th day when God rested from his work and saw that it was good. God made Sabbath sacred. There are a bunch of old testament laws on keeping Sabbath. The most significant is in the 10 commandments, “Remember the Sabbath, keep it holy”

Sabbath comes from the the word “Shabbat”. Shabbat means to cease. Cease doing. Cease producing. Cease being productive. That could be cleaning, projects to improve your house, or to-do list’s getting knocked out. Shabbat is about stopping the concern for all the things you regularly work on, your house, job, your diet,

Why did God make it? God designed us to need rest.

I’ve heard of a soviet experiment (Here) where the government messed with the working week. They attempted to make people more productive. What they found is the 7 day work week is still the most productive.

It’s God’s design.

How do you do Shabbat?

Whatever it takes to get refreshed. I’ve always assumed it’s one day a week. Jesus in Mark 2 says, “Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath.” Jesus showed us that Sabbath is a gift.

If I gave you a “Gift” of free time, how would you spend it? A movie, a book, a hike, drawing, poetry, or something else. It should refresh your soul.

Our culture tells you to do more. Sabbath teaches you too stop. Fill your time with boredom, pleasure, relationship, hobbies, and do so guilt free.

One of the benefits is finding you have more to give those other six days!

Work hard, rest hard friends.