The ten commandments have taken a bad rap as being a list of do’s and don’ts but they are actually for your benefit.  When you live according to God’s principles you can avoid significant problems.   A challenge I have been facing recently is keeping the fourth commandment when ministry is 24/7,

As you look at the ten commandments the fourth commandment is the longest and most inclusive of all the other commandments.  It is a strategic hinge between the commandments that focus on our relationship with God (1-4) and the commandments that focus on our relationship with others (5-6).

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.   Six days you shall labor and do all your work,  but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.   For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.  (Exodus 20:6-11)

The etymology of the word Sabbath is derived from a Hebrew word that means to rest or cease.  God’s plan is that we have a day of rest, so how do we do this a 24/7 world?   We have a tendency to forget that God rested after His work – perhaps that’s the reason that the fourth commandment is the only one of the ten commandments that begins with the word remember.

Matthew Sleeth  provides a helpful perspective in  24/6:  A Prescription for a Healthier, Happier Life.   He asserts, “If we wish to have a weekly day of rest, it will no longer happen as a societal default.  It will happen only as a result of a conscious choice.”   Eugene Peterson wisely observes, “Sabbath is a time to transition from human doings to human beings.”

Why is it so difficult to observe a Sabbath?   A major reason is that we can lose sight of the character of God and become enmeshed in the pursuits of the world.  “The point is that something very important about the character of God is revealed on the seventh day:   God stops.  Stopping is a problem for humans.  We get a comfortable house, and then we want a bigger one.”

We fail to see that a Sabbath is for our benefit,

Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.  So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”   (Mark 2:27-28)

“And that’s just it:  the intent of the commandment— rest—is what is important. Sabbath is meant to be a refuge , not a prison.  It protects the needy, the displaced, and the powerless.  People don’t save the Sabbath; it saves us.  The meaning of rest to a man who cannot walk is to get up and go.  The meaning of rest to the hungry is food.  The meaning of rest to Peter’s mother-in-law was not only to be healed from her fever, but to offer hospitality to her son-in-law’s famous employer.”

There are a number of deleterious effects of not keeping a Sabbath.   The author is a medical doctor who has seen firsthand the results of our 24/7 society, “Fast living that includes fast food and fast eating may ultimately be slowing us down.  Americans spend less than eighty minutes per day eating meals.  What is the reaction?  We’re getting fat.  Nearly 35 percent of our population has a body mass index (BMI) over 30.  (A BMI of more than 25 is overweight, and one of more than 30 is considered obese .)”

A study has revealed that those who keep a Sabbath live “about a dozen years longer than the rest of America.  If you multiply the number of Sabbaths they observe per year by their average lifespan and divide that figure by 365, you will end up with about a dozen years.  In other words, the number of extra years they live is roughly equivalent to the number of days they spend in Sabbath keeping.”

Sleeth emphasizes, “Resting is even more necessary in uncertain times. It helps us remember that God is in control and that our identity is not dependent on the work we do.”

What’s involved in a Sabbath?  The author elucidates “the three Rs of Sabbath:  rest, renewal, and reverence.  In Sabbath keeping, we rest from more than our labors.  We rest from the tyranny of the urgent, the staggering precipice of eternity, and the mundane work week.”  Here’s some helpful and inspiring advice, “How Bill Hybels stays replenished“.

The reality is living 24/ 7 is life draining, whereas living 24/ 6 is life giving.  May Psalm 46:10 encourage your heart as you take time to remember the Sabbath,

Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.  (Psalm 46:10)

What are some you ways you find helpful in keeping a Sabbath?

Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University

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