Our theme for this week is that in order to become soul-centered, we must regularly incorporate Sabbath rest into our lives. The pattern of creating Sabbath space in life is one of the earliest things established in scripture. Indeed, it is how the very first story of scripture closes. The opening chapter of Genesis is the familiar story of God creating the heavens and the earth and all that is in them in seven days - or actually, in six days. On the seventh day, according to Genesis 2:1-3, God rests:
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that God had done, and God rested on the seventh day from all the work that God had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that God had done in creation.
Resting with regularity flies in the face of our societal and cultural expectations. Not only are most of us overly busy, but we seem to take pride in our busyness. We brag about the impossibility of our schedules. We post on social media about all of the things we have done that day or that week, and then make some comment about why it is all ‘worth it.’ Our busyness is like a badge of honor.
But that is not our design. The story of Creation is not so much about the mechanics of how life was created, a historical description of God speaking life forth, as it is about the meaning of why life is created, a theological prescription for how to see that God is undergirding all of life. And at the climax of that story, we are told that God hallows creation - God sets creation apart, recognizes its holiness and sacredness - by resting. It is a prescription for us, if we want to hallow our own lives, recognizing what is sacred and holy in and around us.
In The Rest of God, author Mark Buchanan puts it this way: “In a culture where busyness is a fetish and stillness is laziness, rest is sloth. But without rest, we miss the rest of God: the rest he invites us to enter more fully so that we might know him more deeply. ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’ Some knowing is never pursued, only received. And for that, you need to be still. Sabbath is both a day and an attitude to nurture such stillness. It is both time on a calendar and a disposition of the heart. It is a day we enter, but just as much a way we see. Sabbath imparts the rest of God — actual physical, mental, spiritual rest, but also the rest of God — the things of God’s nature and presence we miss in our busyness.”
Becoming soul-centered is in part about learning to hallow all of life. That cannot fully happen without regular intervals of Sabbath rest.
Daily prayer of reflection: Lord, help me rest in You.