Thursday January 18, 2024

Today is Thursday, January 18 and we are studying what scripture says about Sabbath rest.

As I begin this time of prayer, I quiet my mind, slow my breathing and focus on the God who loves me. As a new year begins I seek to learn how God wants to bless me and my faith family through the practice of Sabbath.

Pause and Pray

Holy and loving God, you created me and know what is best for me – body, mind and soul. Teach me the secret of contentment and what it means to be satisfied with the goodness you provide. Help me practice the rhythm of life you designed and find weekly Sabbath rest in your love. Amen.

I give thanks for God’s steadfast love and praise him with the words of Psalm 107.

Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Psalm 107:8-9

Pause and Pray

The Christian’s spiritual journey begins with desire. We want to follow Jesus and be transformed into a new kind of person. Desire drives us to get out of bed in the morning and inspires us to strive and live. The human heart is driven by desires, but when we pay close attention to our inner cravings we realize we are never truly satisfied. No matter how much we get, it never seems to be enough. Chronically unfulfilled desires are at the root of the human soul. This problem of human nature is manipulated by a culture of consumerism which causes us to always want more. We are not content until we have more money, more food, more drink, more clothing, more accomplishments, more relationships, more everything.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:6-10

We are driven by a culture of “more” that causes us to continually work and strive to accomplish and accumulate. God invites us to a culture of “enough” to live in a way that finds contentment, satisfaction and fulfillment. When we constantly chase more money, more fashion, more experiences, more square feet in our home, more places to travel, more technological gadgets, more activities, more relationships, more accomplishments, more accolades, it is never enough. Rest is always just out of reach. Sabbath is a practice which wages war against the restlessness of our age. God invites us to find rest for our souls.

Ask: Does time set aside for Sabbath rest appeal to my soul? What would it mean for me to be “content” with what I have and say it is “enough?”

Pause and Pray

Blessed and Holy Lord, teach me the secret of contentment. I came into the world with nothing and I will leave with nothing. Reveal the worldly desires that cause me to strive after “more” and resist the rest and peace you want for me. Teach me to turn off the voices of the world and tune into your voice speaking to my soul. Show me how to live a godly life with contentment and peace. I read the words from the 1 Timothy again and listen for the message you have for me.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:6-10

Ask: What image, word or phrase stands out to me when I slowly read this passage? What is God trying to say to me through these words of scripture?

Pause and Pray

I consider my current level of contentment. Is my soul at peace? Am I longing and striving for more? Or do I have “enough?” Behind the idea of Sabbath is rest for my soul, rest for the whole person, rest for all of me. When I observe Sabbath time with God I not only rest from my labor, I rest from my constant cravings and longings. I rest from my errands, my goals, my to-do lists. I rest from my need to do more and be more than I currently am. I rest in God knowing that he loves me just the way I am. Who I am as his child is more than enough. I can simply “be” in my Sabbath place with the God who loves me and the community who celebrates me.

Pause and Pray

Lord God, teach me what it would be like to practice regular times of Sabbath rest in 2024. Give me your vision for what holistic rest really is. Help me understand the places of resistance I will encounter – resistance from a surrounding culture of accomplishment and resistance from my own unfulfilled wants and desires. Amen.

Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” Haggai 1:5-6

I leave this time of prayer resting in the knowledge of God’s great love for me. I go to love and encourage others in his name.

Amen