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The Love Principle - Study 18: You and Rest

  • 4 days ago
  • 14 min read

Exodus 20:8-11 NIVUK 

[8] Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. [9] Six days you shall labour and do all your work, [10] but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. [11] For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 

Mark 2:23-28 NIVUK 

[23] One Sabbath Jesus was going through the cornfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some ears of corn. [24] The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?’ [25] He answered, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? [26] In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.’ [27] Then he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. [28] So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.’ 

A new working pattern is gradually being absorbed into tech start-ups, particularly in the USA. Promoted heavily by Jack Ma, the chairman of China’s Ali Baba Group, the ‘996’ working pattern consists of workers being contracted to work from 9am to 9pm six days a week – a shift of 72 hours per week. Tech companies are insisting on it, particularly those involved in AI, to try to develop, deploy and monetise their products as soon as possible. 


Most of us, at least those of us with any compassion and common sense, will know that this way of working is incredibly unhealthy, that no human being was ever designed to work that hard without something breaking. 


However, some tech companies are even promoting a ‘007’ working pattern. In case you think this is a working pattern that involves driving an Aston Martin, drinking a shaken, not stirred Martini, slaying bad guys and bedding beautiful women, allow me to disabuse you of that notion. 


It basically means that workers would be working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They would literally never not be working. 


Again, you don’t need to be a genius or a union official to know that is just a terrible idea. 


There is, and always has been, more to life than work. 


Now, this is where those of you with good memories will know that we addressed this nine studies ago, when we looked at how the Sabbath is God’s work-life balance plan, and how it is an expression of our faith in and dependence on God. 


I wholeheartedly agree. It is. 


But allow me to explain. 


In our last study, we looked at how it is important for us to love ourselves. Now, it is very easy to make the argument that all of the Ten Commandments are not just an expression of our love for God (which they are), but also an expression of love for ourselves, as they remove us from many sources of harm and set us on a much healthier lifestyle. 


That is absolutely correct. 


But there are two of the commandments in particular where the benefit to us is absolutely plain. 


So what I will do now is double back and point out why it is that obedience to these commands is highlighted in the Bible as being an act of love, not just for God or for out neighbours, but also for ourselves. 


The first of these is our observance of a Sabbath rest. 


How do we know that we benefit too? 


Look at what Jesus said about it: 


Mark 2:27 NIVUK 

[27] Then he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/113/mrk.2.27.NIVUK)


So the act of stopping from our regular activity and contemplating God is not for His benefit, but it is for our benefit. We are supposed to gain from it. 


Now, that is a point of view you would not hear from the mouths of the ancient Jewish leaders or any of the ‘Keep Sunday Special’ brigade. They are more focused on ticking boxes of outward obedience than fully understanding why inward observance is needed, or who benefits from it. 


But the reality is that the Sabbath was a day of rest for the whole household, including the animals (which, for a nomadic pastoral people was quite some command), and the people who gained from it, according to Jesus Christ Himself, were those who rested. 


What’s more, we see the original Sabbath instituted right at creation: 


Genesis 2:2-3 NIVUK 

[2] By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. [3] Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. 

We need to understand these verses properly. It doesn’t mean that God rested after six days work because He was tired. That cannot be the case. God is never tired. He does not slumber or sleep because He doesn’t need it (Psalm 121:3-4). 


What the Hebrew word says here is that God ‘Sabbathed’ on the seventh day: He ceased from activities for a day. He stopped creating. 


And that is what He made us to do: to cease from the endless cycle of creating and consuming to rest. He set us an example for us to follow.  


Unlike Him, we are frail human beings who need to balance work and rest. It’s for this reason that we have this balance.  


To echo Jesus, the Sabbath rest was created for us. 


So if this is true, what do we gain from it? How do we show love to ourselves by observing it? 


There are three needs that are kept by keeping the Sabbath. The first of these, I would hope, would be obvious: Our Physical Needs. 

 

Our Physical Needs 

Mark 6:30-31 NIVUK 

[30] The apostles gathered round Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. [31] Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ 

I need to say something here that ought not to need to be said, but in our materialistic, always-on cultures, we need to hear it: 


Exhaustion is not a medal of honour. 


You are not more spiritual or hardworking if you push yourself to the very brink of your tolerance every day. 


I’ve seen it in the corporate world, where contractors will push themselves as hard as they can over a short period to earn silly money. I’ve seen it in Christian circles, where busyness is often a more convenient substitute for discipleship and spirituality. 


But none of that is true. 


How do we know? 


Because of how Jesus treated the disciples. 


Here were they, at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. It’s all happening around them. They must have felt like they were in the eye of a whirlwind. So many people were coming and going, seeking Jesus and what He could do for them.  


Now, in this situation, a modern entrepreneur would rub his hands with glee at the prospect of more money coming in. He would push himself and his underlings harder, faster, further. There would be no rest. They would have to strike while the iron was hot. 


But not Jesus.  


Do you see that? Not Jesus. 


He realised that things were going too far, that the disciples were being pushed to the limits of their endurance, so He called time and took them out of there. 


That is what Sabbath is for. That is its purpose. 


The fact that God instituted it at all, and the fact that Jesus stopped right then and there, tells us that God is aware of our nature. 


Psalms 103:13-18 NIVUK 

[13] As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; [14] for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. [15] The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; [16] the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. [17] But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children – [18] with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. 

Do you see this? There is no point trying to pretend to God that you are a super human. He made you. He knows that you are not. 


He knows that you need to rest. 


And that is why the Sabbath was given. 


But note Jesus’ encounter with the Pharisees.


In fact, He had the same encounter with them multiple times during His ministry. They had turned Sabbath observance into a massive religious production which involved obedience to numerous rules that had not come from Mosaic law. These endless rules led to them actually seeking to prevent people from coming to Jesus to be healed. 


This is, quite frankly, wrong, and in three ways. 


Firstly, because the Sabbath is principally about stopping our usual activities and resting.


Who can rest while constantly being attentive to what they do to avoid breaking some minor religious law? 


Secondly, because these people were striving for the rest and relief that had eluded them for years. What Jesus was doing was the very essence of what the Sabbath was for. 


Thirdly, because their attitude was profoundly hypocritical: 


Luke 13:14-16 NIVUK 

[14] Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, ‘There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.’ [15] The Lord answered him, ‘You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? [16] Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?’ 

They would free their beasts of burden and allow them to experience rest from their labours. This woman had been vexed by her problems for years. She was worth much more than a donkey. She should also experience that same freedom and rest. 


Keeping the Sabbath is profoundly good for us. It provides us with rest and restoration, and can also provide us with a renewed perspective on the work we carry out for the rest of the week. It is a blessing. 


Keeping it as it was intended is an act of self-care and of self-love. 


So we see that keeping the Sabbath is part of God’s care for our physical needs. There us another aspect of keeping the Sabbath as it was intended, in that it is good for Our Spiritual Needs. 

 

Our Spiritual Needs 

Psalms 73:16-17 NIVUK 

[16] When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply [17] till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. 

Being high up alters our perspective. 


We were once on a vacation to Switzerland when we took a train high up into the Alps. The views from the top were absolutely extraordinary. We were so high up that not only birds were flying beneath us, but even a helicopter. Buildings that seemed so large in the valley below appeared to be smaller even then Lego bricks. It was an amazing experience. 


If a little chilly. 


When we are down in the valley of day to day activity, often our perspective is just on the next obstacle in front of us. We moan and complain about how hard life is for us compared to other people. We grumble about the little niggles that life in a fallen world throws at us. 


And then we hit the Sabbath. The Sabbath ought to be a time of contemplation and convocation. We ought to meditate on the goodness of our God and meet with others for encouragement and a different perspective. 


This should lift us out of the valley on to the mountaintop. We should see things differently. 


This was Asaph's experience. 


In the valley of everyday life he saw rich sinners prospering and developing an arrogant attitude towards God. He could not understand why. But when he drew near to God in worship, he elevated himself above the valley to see that such people always face a sticky end. 


That is the kind of insight that only comes by stopping what you are doing, getting away from your situation and spending time in fellowship with God. 


If we’re looking for an example of this, we can see it in Jesus Christ Himself: 


Mark 1:35 NIVUK 

[35] Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/113/mrk.1.35.NIVUK)


Luke 5:16 NIVUK 

[16] But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/113/luk.5.16.NIVUK)


John 6:15 NIVUK 

[15] Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.6.15.NIVUK)


It was customary for a first century Jewish teacher to do this at the start of his ministry. John the Baptist did it (Luke 1:80). Paul the Apostle did it (Galatians 1:17). Even Jesus Himself did it (Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:1). 


But Jesus seems to have kept up this periodic withdrawal for rest and meditation as part of His ministry. 


Our Sabbath-keeping can do exactly that for us. It can be a time when we retreat to be repaired before we return to the everyday grind. It can be a time when we lift our eyes to the mountains from the valley and gain a new perspective. 


Spending time with Almighty God in the quiet is already a good thing. Having the opportunity to bring our cares and our troubles from the valley to His feet and leave them there is another good thing. Look at what Jesus said: 


Matthew 11:28-30 NIVUK 

[28]  ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’ 

We are supposed to bring to Jesus our burdens so that He can give us, what? A lecture about how we should be doing things differently? An instruction manual we should have been following? A scolding for our failures? 


No. Rest. He gives us rest. 


Rest that comes from laying down those burdens before Him and leaving them there. 


There could not be a more Sabbath-related activity. Just as when the Sabbath was first instituted, it involves stopping activity and trusting in God’s sustaining and providing power. 


Which makes it possible to rest. 


So we have seen, how Sabbath is both physically and spiritually good for us. But Sabbath is also about meeting Our Eternal Needs. 

 

Our Eternal Needs 

Hebrews 4:9-10 NIVUK 

[9] There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; [10] for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.  

In Europe, there are many shops that sell high-end artisanal chocolate – the kind you are highly unlikely to find wrapped in cellophane or foil in a gas station shop. These artisanal chocolate shops know their products are reassuringly expensive, but also high quality. So to hook you in and make a sale, they don’t just trust in their seriously attractive window displays, they also offer free samples. The idea being, of course, that they are so confident that you will taste their product, love it and want to buy it.  


The product itself becomes its own best advertisement. 


It’s a pretty effective strategy. 


And quite a delicious one too.


Sabbath, for those who are believers and who observe it, is also a taster. It is a sweet taster of heaven. The ultimate Sabbath rest will not be on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, but every day.  


This rest won’t just be a rest from work or activity, it will be a rest from sin and suffering: 


Revelation 21:3-4 NIVUK 

[3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling-place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. [4] “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death” or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ 

It will be a rest to God and for God. He will be its initiator and its inspiration. We will live our lives tirelessly for His glory. 


Every time we stop from earthly activity to reflect on Him in worship, praise and thanksgiving, every time we choose to stop trying to run our own lives and instead submit to His Lordship, every time alter the course of our lives to make sure they are lived for His glory, those are the times when we get a small taste of what life will be like in Heaven. 


Sabbath isn’t just a command, it is a promise: a promise of the more restful life to come. 


We observe the Sabbath of love for God and faith in Him – absolutely. 


But we also observe it out of self-care and self-love, because it is a timely reminder for us that this life is not all there is, and our struggles are not permanent. 


Sabbath points us to that marvellous day when our earthly labours will be over and we will rest in God forever. 


So why wouldn’t we observe it? 

 

Conclusion 

Mark 2:27 NIVUK 

[27] Then he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/113/mrk.2.27.NIVUK)


When I was growing up, my parents weren’t so well off. Occasionally they would get second hand clothes for us. Sometimes they didn’t fit quite so well. You would often hear them say things like, ‘It’s a little bit small for him, but he’ll grow into it.’ 


Wearing ill-fitting clothes can chafe or be uncomfortable. I’m sure we will know that by now. 


Maybe for you this whole idea about Sabbath being good for you is a little strange. Maybe your mind goes back to towns where everything closed on a Sunday and there was nothing to do and it was very boring. Maybe you remember being called out for breaking some rule you didn’t even know existed or were so stressed out by the need to be dressed up to the nines for church that the whole rigmarole of Sabbath left you cold and turned off. 


If that’s how you feel, you have my sympathy. 


There are many parts of the world where the idea of Sabbath is less what it was intended to be and more a religious minefield of rules and restrictions. The very last thing on anyone’s mind is rest. Not when there are so many traditions to keep and cultural requirements to uphold. 


That is absolutely not what Sabbath was intended to be and neither is what Jesus celebrated.  


That kind of Sabbath is not good for anyone. It’s all about religion. God is out of the picture.


As both Isaiah and Jesus pointed out: 


Isaiah 29:13 NIVUK 

[13] The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught. 

If we are to do Sabbath properly, we should take time to rest and reflect on the goodness of God. We should take time out of the frenetic life of creation and consumption to take time in the Word of God. 


When we do this, we find that it’s good for us physically, mentally, and also reminds us of our eternity with God forever. 


I long remember the times when I was sick and my parents would have to force me to take some pretty yucky tasting medicine. It was good for me, but it tasted pretty bad. 


Sabbath is good for you. And doesn’t need to taste bad. It should never be forced or done with reluctance. We should want to do it, because we love God and we want to spend time with Him. 


And in doing so, we are also loving and caring for ourselves. 


Whenever we get to do it. 

 

Prayer 

Lord Jesus, thank You for giving me Sabbath. Help me to carve out time to spend time with You because I love You and because I know that it will be good for me. Bless that time richly, I pray. Amen. 

 

Questions for Contemplation 

  • Why should we do Sabbath by stopping out activity to focus on God? 

  • When should we do it? How frequently? 

  • What changes will you make to how you Sabbath? 

 

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