One man challenged another to an all-day wood chopping contest. The challenger worked very hard, stopping only for a brief lunch break.

The other man had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks during the day. At the end of the day, the challenger was surprised and annoyed to find that the other fellow had chopped substantially more wood than he had.

"I don't get it," he said. "Every time I checked, you were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I did."

"But didn't you notice," said the winning woodsman, "that when I sat down to rest I was sharpening my ax?" [show less]

‘Sorry, just don’t have the time.’

Ever heard yourself saying that, when you know you oughtn’t? Ever step back, look over your calendar, and just sigh?

If you’re like me, you have too much to do. I’ve got to earn a living, pay off debts, get exercise, surf the internet, clean house, do the shopping, wash the car...

Just not enough hours in the day, or days in the week. Seems like the more time-saving devices I buy, the less time I have. And I just keep getting more stressed.

But does it HAVE to be like that? I’m thinking not. You see, a growing number of people find that the holy bible has got a solution. It’s all about the importance of time. About analyzing how I use time so it doesn’t use me. About an oasis of calm for my harassed life.

Solution? It’s called the sabbath.

where it all started
Think back to the first chapter of the holy bible (see about:origins), when God created our world, he rested on the seventh day and set it apart. He made it special. The holy bible says ‘God rested’, or to put it literally, ‘he sabbathed’.

It was the climax of creation.

It was a time of rest, illustrating how all of life can be a spiritual affair. Our world, and the time we have to enjoy it, are both gifts. Sabbath is a resource we can enjoy to the full.

The holy bible is quite specific about Sabbath rest. It isn’t simply one day in seven for a little relaxation. It’s more than that. It’s about spending time with God. About getting rest spiritually and emotionally as well as physically.

on your calendar
So when do we get this rest? Does the holy bible say anything about that? Yup, sure does. When it talks about sabbath rest, it’s pretty specific. The time for sabbath rest is that period between sunset on sixth day of the week and sunset on the seventh. That’s sunset Friday to sunset Saturday.

It’s a rest that symbolizes when God finished creation. So the actual timing of sabbath rest is really important. Because it celebrates a specific event. In other words, we choose to rest on this specific day, not simply because human beings need rest, but because we need a particular kind of spiritual rest.

Can’t I spend every day with God, you ask? Of course you can. For people who live attuned to God, who live out their faith, every day of the week is spent with him.

But sabbath rest has a different function than other days of the week. Rest helps me appreciate God’s presence on the other days of the week. It helps me put life in perspective, enables me to set priorities and stick to them.

In other words, Sabbath rest helps me to manage time so I can live a fulfilled, ordered and satisfied life.

You might as well admit it. In the past the concept of sabbath rest has gotten bad press, resented as a way to earn merit with God through a boring stretch of dull inactivity. But that’s not the sabbath rest of the holy bible. God’s original sabbath rest is a feast, not a fast. Something to anticipate and celebrate.

So what can a sabbath rest do for you?

benefit me?
Firstly, it can bring a fresh life perspective. The concept of sabbath rest challenges some of the questionable values of our modern world. Sabbath rest declares that life is more than work, money and production. When you value sabbath rest, you accept a radical set of values emphasizing the quality of being human.

Life is about more than doing.

It is, most importantly, about being.

Take a break one day a week? And you demonstrate that you work to live, not live to work. It’s one of the best ways to turn your back on rampant materialism. Protest against the dominant view that your true worth is measured solely by your contribution to the economy. Transform your life into a pace in harmony with the natural world.

Does that mean sabbath rest rejects all technology? Definitely not. But it does mean you refuse to let work and stress dominate the divine rhythm of work and rest. Sunset-to-sunset sabbath rest returns you to the rhythms of the earth, living with the rising and setting sun. Embrace the natural world. Rediscover your place in it.

I’ve done this for some years now. It has become something I look forward to, and remember with gratitude. It’s also helped me in my career. Sabbath rest gives me a time-out from professional goals and deadlines.

I’ve learned that:
- the world won’t stop turning just because I’m not working.
- my family needs some quality time – unrushed moments.
- I need peace and order to counter my otherwise frazzled existence.
- sabbath rest makes it easier to ask life’s important questions, like ‘Why am I here?’ and ‘What do I value?’
- it gives me time to reflect on my place in this world
- weekly rest emphasizes my responsibilities to the world, to be kind, to show compassion, to help out where I can.

earth-sabbath
There’s more to it. More than just personal benefits. And it gets good!

Remember the story about origins and creation? In that story, sabbath rest is the final gem. It tells us that our origin is ultimately a spiritual concern, so when you observe a sabbath rest you acknowledge your responsibility to God’s creation.

And here you might have thought that concern for the environment is strictly a contemporary issue! But you can find it in the holy bible, connected to sabbath rest. Here’s an example:
“for six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unploughed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. ‘Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed’ (Exodus 23:10-12).

Two concepts, side by side. Just as human beings should work six days and rest on the seventh, so the ground should be cultivated for six years but rested on the seventh. Or, to put it more explicitly, ‘in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the LORD’ (Leviticus 25:4).

Just like you benefit from sabbath rest, we are responsible to not endlessly exploit natural resources. And hey, if you take your own need for rest seriously, wouldn’t you want to give it to the earth as well?

social-justice
Here’s a shocker: in the holy bible, the sabbath rest is also connected to social justice. It’s the great leveller. Regardless of social status, come sabbath all are equal.

In ancient Israel, sabbath rest was considered a social right for everybody, rich or poor. This weekly social justice reminder was reinforced every seven years by the agricultural sabbatical, or earth-sabbath.

Every seven years the poor could take whatever the resting land naturally produced. It’s quite understandable, then, that the prophet Isaiah defined true justice as ‘to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke. Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter’ (Isaiah 58:6-7).

In the same breath, he encouraged his hearers to ‘call the sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honourable’ (Isaiah 58:13).

So when you observe sabbath, you’re simultaneously declaring your passion for social justice.

a few adjustments
So can you take a sabbath rest without changing life as usual? Probably not.

If you decide to be dedicated to sabbath rest each week, it’ll require some readjustments. But how bad is that – once you outline the benefits?

Here’s some tips for sabbath rest that I’ve picked up along the way, to get you started:

• don’t make the mistake of compiling long lists of do’s and don’ts. Think about principles. If sabbath rest is about avoiding work, competition, acquisition and performance – then just don’t do anything that puts your mind where it is all week long.
  
• find something interesting outside of your work. If you only think about work, you’re likely to be stressed and maybe even dull.
  
• celebrate! Sabbath rest is an invitation to diversify your life. Of course, that doesn’t include activities that destroy your body or damage your health…
  
• focus on relationships. Sabbath rest is about family, friends, and fellowship. Get together with people you love. And try to avoid work-talk.
  
• get ready ahead of time. My family prepares for sabbath rest by planning our meals the day before and cleaning house before Friday night, so when sunset arrives everything is sparkling and we can enjoy the relaxation without worrying about what needs to be done.
  
• make it special. Many people who enjoy sabbath rest, myself included, have a special family activity for the beginning and end of the day. We have little rituals that they kids love (and the adults, too!). We light candles as it gets dark, have a special supper – doesn’t have to be fancy, just favorite – or start a fire in the fireplace.
  
• be grateful. Sabbath is a perfect time to remember what you’re thankful for. You’re alive, aren’t you? Think of something to be happy about.
  

My opinion? Sabbath rest is pure delight. The early Christian church observed it. It’s nothing short of tragic that people in general have lost track of it. But it’s getting re-discovered.

How about you? Want more peace and less panic? Maybe discovering the sabbath rest would help. Try and see if it helps you get less stressed, build fragile relationships, make wise priorities. I think you’ll discover one of the greatest resources God has provided.

Who knows? Maybe you’ll find it’s like our story at the beginning. Maybe your sabbath rests will make you just that much sharper and more effective during the week! [show less]

How do you feel about one day a week set aside for rest and relationships?

How would keeping a Sabbath-rest change your life?

What do you do now to rest and relax – and is it truly successful?

Do you believe that you’re too busy to be healthy?

Will you try out a sabbath rest, and give it a chance?

Dear God,
You have this amazing secret for health and peace. I wish I knew just how to put it all together in my life. But even though I haven’t taken a sabbath rest before, I’d like to figure out how. Thank you. AMEN.<

‘God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done’ (Genesis 2:3)

In the Bible, days begin and end at sunset. See Leviticus 23:32, ‘from evening to evening you shall keep your sabbath’.

re:tell: Source Unknown. http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/r/rest.htm. July 25, 2006. Adapted by Sarah K. Asaftei.