Call me crazy but I think the focus and idea of Sabbath is needed more today than it was even for first century Christians.
I say this coming from a Western culture perspective, because that is all that I know. It has been so overly stated but yet remains true; people today are bombarded with busyness that is masked by calling the busyness “entertainment.”
Looking at my own life, the joys of the Internet can easily become work for me when they over run my life.
The allure of today’s culture is to do more with the same amount of time.
We have gotten away from what it means to be humans outside of work. We have gotten away from what it means to be Christ followers outside of the busyness we call “life.” I love how Marva Dawn puts this:
“Though we who devote our lives to God’s service might know in our heads that grace frees us from having to earn God’s love, we are sometimes the worst at living what we know…Consequently, our Sabbath ceasing has to begin with an honest assessment of how much we keep depending upon ourselves instead of God – so that we can give up and let everything go for a day.”
When I am honest with myself, so much of my busyness comes from a reliance on self rather than God. It is like I’m trying to prove to the world that I can do it.
From creation until now God has designed for a day to be set a part for fellowship with himself and those nearest to us.
Can a Sabbath rest relate to today’s culture?
