Sabbath Reflections

I remember being about eleven-years-old and having a stuck dresser drawer.  I needed to pry it loose, so I went to my dad’s toolbox in search of any tool that would work.  I found a long skinny file that was just the right size.  The problem was, that it was the wrong tool.  The file, of course, broke, and I had to explain to my dad what had happened.  My dad gave me a lesson on using tools only for their designed purpose, and then helped me with my dresser.  That day, I learned a valuable lesson regarding the relationship between design and use.  God designed us to live and function in a certain way, and going outside of that design can be a major inlet for stress.  Last week I preached on slowing down, our need to choose the good portion (Luke 10:38-42), and to reclaim the Sabbath. (Listen here)

God created you; he made your limits, abilities, and full potential, all with the need for Sabbath rest.  While I was preparing to preach about slowing down I ran across a story from the Oregon Trail.  There was a caravan of wagons on the trail that had decided to honor the Sabbath by not traveling at all on Sundays.  A faction of people within the caravan grew restless about the time of year.  They worried that if they continued to only travel six days a week that they would not arrive before it snowed again.  The Caravan decided to split into two groups; one that would travel six days a week with a day of rest, and one that would travel seven days a week.  The group that travelled six days a week actually reached the end of the trail first.  With the weekly day of rest, both the travelers and the animals were able to do more each of the six days than the other group could do all seven.

Your Heavenly Father knows you need rest.  He is our loving creator who designed us.  Part of living within God’s design is having that weekly day of rest.  The Saturday before I preached on slowing down I worked long and hard on a landscaping project at home.  I told my wife that I had to finish it that day because I was about to preach on honoring the Sabbath.  I did finish that wall on Saturday.  On Sunday I enjoyed sitting on the wall while my kids played in the yard, we went to the park as a family, I had a nice long phone call with my parents, and we had some friends over for take and bake pizza (about the most restful meal you can make).  At the end of the day I was ready to reenter the office on Monday, and ready to work. 

Thank you, Lord, for giving us rest. You are a great God and Father who knows what his children need!

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Chuck Mullikin

About the Author:
Chuck serves on staff at Westchester as Associate Pastor of Adult Discipleship