Practicing Sabbath

By Craig Ashton Jr., January 13, 2024

Ahh, refreshing! That’s how I feel about the Sabbath. I have been committed to practicing Sabbath. God knows I need a break—knows I need to tap out and catch my breath. There’s nothing quite like a sweet repose from the demands of a grinding work week. God knows I must periodically pause my daily patterns, yet the practice of Sabbath means more than a day off from a hectic work week. It means freedom from compulsive patterns of living, tyranny and all types of bullies and tyrants. It’s a weekly protest against everything that devalues rest.

God said,

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.

Exodus 20:8–11

The Sabbath is a day of equality and inclusion. Everyone is to be included in this rest—men, women, children, servants, foreigners, and even animals. I am utterly amazed at how the Sabbath completely safeguards against inappropriate social hierarchies.

The Sabbath is against discrimination—it values the other and creates community—but what I like most about the Sabbath is what is says about God. He is the Creator, and He rests. There is nothing selfish or legalistic about it. The Sabbath is more about God’s commitment to taking care of us than it is about our correct observance. Fundamentally, the Sabbath expresses God’s self-giving love. It’s about finding the rest that is God’s gift to us. It’s about His presence. For me, the Sabbath is thus ultimately about celebrating my Rescuer, my Redeemer, my Maker. More than physical rest, the Sabbath is a different rhythm, a relational rest, a theological rest. For me, it’s a soul refreshment that continues to deepen.

Shabbat shalom!