Sabbath rest. Because God created it!

 Memories….of a conversation with some young North Park University students after my summer together with the staff at Covenant Point Bible Camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan…”what are you doing about sabbath?  Are you getting good sabbath rest?  What does sabbath mean?  How can we be more creative and make sure that we’re getting the 52 vacation days a year that God intended for us to get??”

 

As folks who live in a foreign land and have to navigate life using foreign languages, we have learned thru the years the importance of Sabbath rest.  Getting good Sabbath rest.  Not just hit or miss Sabbath rest.  Intentional.  Planned.  Sabbath rest.

 

Add a pandemic onto the stressors of life and ministry, and Sabbath rest becomes even more important.

 

Some Bible references that give us permission (as if we need it!) to make Sabbath rest a priority.  We need it.  God modeled it for us.  And it's honoring to God when we take the rest that He intended for us to have!

 

Genesis 2:1-3  So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed.  On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work.  And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation. 

Exodus 20:8-11  The Ten Commandments

Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God.  On that day no one in your household may do any work....For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested.  That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

Here are a few glimpses into what we’ve been doing as we creatively figure out Sabbath.  In a foreign land.  In the midst of this ongoing Covid pandemic.

Sabbath rest always involves a long hike ~ and some retirement dreaming...

Sabbath rest for us always has to include good coffee...nourishment for the soul!

Sabbath rest with a hike and coffee ~ the best of both worlds!

Sabbath rest often includes good food ~ this picture demonstrates the perfect blend of middle Eastern cuisine with Swedish knäkkebröd (hard tack rye crisps!)

Sometimes a sabbath hike is just as well done in our beautiful city ~ MALMO!!!

Love it when nature cooperates and gifts us with a glorious sunset over the harbor of Limhamn ~

We have paused on many prayer walks thru the Rosengård neighborhood to reflect a moment on this prophetic words....Dansa (Dance) and Pausa (Pause). 

 

What are you doing in your life and in your world to make sure you're getting the 52 vacation days a year that God intended for you, that has nothing to do with your job but has everything to do with your intentional efforts in getting the rest that God wants for you to have?  

Just wondering...