Monday, February 28, 2022
When it comes to chilling-out, or relaxing,
the whole idea of following the rules seems rather an
oxymoron. How do you alertly follow each
detail when you’re busy escaping working at anything? And how can you “rest” if you’re busy
following the rules?
My dog, Wellie understands being at rest;
he is a world-class lazybones! The
little man could sleep through a tornado.
God chose the rhythm
of cycles. Part of that rhythm is one day
out of seven dedicated exclusively to the Lord. “Sabbath” is a Hebrew word meaning “rest”. It is meant to be restorative in the same way
vacation, or day off, has the purpose
of regaining strength that has been expended in the everyday tasks of
life. That the Jewish community took
Sabbath seriously can hardly be debated…being put to death for taking a
Saturday morning shift at work doesn’t restore anything.
The question becomes:
If Sabbath is so important, and recognized as valuable for wellbeing,
health, and wholeness, why do so many people ignore it?
Perhaps my dog can teach us an important lesson of
Sabbath-keeping. Wellie’s interests are
centered on sniffing and munching. When
we walk with him in a park, it is mostly waiting for him to finish sniffing
every pole, tree, park bench, and square inch of anything else. If sniffing to see what other dogs may have
crossed the path is like reading the newspaper, Wellie’s brand of sniffing is
more like doing research for a doctoral degree – he’s never done! But it is his interest that drives him to
sniff unendingly.
The other half of Mr. Wellington’s life’s-work is
food. He has, as previously noted, a finely-tuned
sense of smell. Added to that gift is a sense
of hearing worthy of a submarine’s sonar and radar, the difference being, a sub’s
detection is for the danger of any enemy vessels, while Wellie’s nose and ears
are more infallible than a King James Bible to detect a morsel of food…ANYWHERE! He can pretend he doesn’t hear me as well as
any other child who doesn't want to come in from playing yet, but he can hear
the crinkle of a potato-chip bag being opened ten miles down the road.
By comparison, an open Bible, praise songs, and prayer don’t
hold the slightest bit of interest for my fur-child; food is what drives his
attention. He loves to rest, except when
the possiblity of eating or keeping track of other dogs is presented. But sometimes my dog is better at practicing
Sabbath than I am, which is awkward for me; I always work
on the Christian Sabbath day. And here I
am, about to encourage us all to use Sunday for that day of rest.
I’m sure God never
intended for Sabbath to be a burden.
Jesus even said Sabbath
was made for man – not the other way around. It is the blessing of rest
our bodies, minds, and souls crave.
For You Today
If you’ve filled
every moment available with stuff that crowds out the kind of rest which can
happen in worship, prayer, and fellowship, has it really been Sabbath?
You chew on that as
you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!
[1] Title image: Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
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