A Winter Sabbath

 

The holidays are over. The decorations are all put away, and my house looks bare but also serene. I clear away the holiday clutter and vacuum until I have gotten 99% of the glitter cleaned up and then I purposely decide what items, if any, I will bring into our living space. I choose to use things like candles and a muted palette in my home this time of year for a reason. It’s peaceful, and it brings much-needed rest to my soul.

 

For so many, this is a sad time of the year, and I, too, have found myself in that grip from time to time. For the last several years, I have chosen to view these darker winter months differently. After all the chaos of parties, dinners, invitations, and a myriad of other activities, I have chosen to view this quiet time as precious, almost sacred. It’s a time of rest and renewal. A time of reflection on the past year, and for me it has been quite a year. A major surgery, meeting some of my birth family for the very first time, the death of my mother and our 30th wedding anniversary. Those are just a few of the highs and lows I have experienced, and each one had weeks, sometimes months prior to, or after, to prepare for or recover from. I don’t have to wonder how I managed to come through all this and still maintained my peace. Not only did I invite Jesus into each situation, but I grew in my understanding and practice of Sabbath. Taking a sabbath, keeping sabbath, however, you want to phrase it, I have learned how important sabbath is in my life and how much I need it and realizing I have a long way to go.

 

Sabbath: a day of rest and worship that is observed in Judaism and Christianity. The word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word Shabbat, which means “rest.”

 

The meaning of sabbath is rooted in God’s rest following the six days of creation, and so making it sacred (Genesis 2:2-3). God gives us this fourth commandment in Exodus 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. To “remember the Sabbath” means that we affirm the seven-day-a-week rhythm of life as created by God. To “keep it holy” means to set apart the day and focus on God, who made the sabbath day holy. Not only does sabbath honor God but He also promises a blessing IF we keep the Sabbath.

 

Isaiah 50:13-14 “If you watch your step on the Sabbath

    and don’t use my holy day for personal advantage,

If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,

    GOD’s holy day as a celebration,

If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,’

    making money, running here and there—

Then you’ll be free to enjoy GOD!

   Oh, I’ll make you ride high and soar above it all.

I’ll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob.”

 

In 2023, I spent 6 weeks in Jerusalem, Israel, and this is where I not only grew in my understanding but literally practiced keeping sabbath. I would like to share my blog for that first sabbath in Israel while I was there.

 

Here in Jerusalem, everything shuts down from Friday at sundown till Saturday

at sundown. Buses, cars, taxis, and the light rail all stop. Stores begin to close at

3:00 pm so the owners and families can go home to prepare for Shabbat. It really

is amazing. The noise from traffic in Jerusalem is unbelievable! It has been said

Israeli’s own a horn with four wheels! Ah, but when the siren goes off and the

traffic stops, silence. It’s like a holy hush settles on the city and there is a tangible

peace. I was invited to my first Shabbat dinner Friday night. It was so special and

so sacred. The couple I am friends with are Christians but follow some of the

Jewish ways, as in Shabbat and some of the feasts. I think we are really missing

out. I have learned that being a Jew is not a religion at all, it’s a way of life 24/7.

So much deeper than I thought, but more on that later. They had a guest at

Shabbat dinner who taught about the dinner and all that it entails, but also about

the holiness of God. What I have learned is the Jewish people center their lives

around Shabbat. A mother might see a nice piece of meat at the grocery store on

a Tuesday and she will purchase it, already thinking about serving it for the

dinner she will prepare for her family on Friday evening. A Father might come

across a book or article early in the week and set it aside to read during Shabbat.

Children bathe and dress in their best before coming to dinner. A candle is lit, a

prayer is spoken, a husband speaks a blessing over his wife and then over his

children, bread is broken, wine is sipped, a song is sung, and the Shabbat

celebration has begun.

The next 24 hours are sacred. It is a time of rest. No work, no news, no TV, no

internet or cell phones, no politics, no shopping, nothing that would disturb their

peace. Everyone, whether you are a Jew or not, respects and honors Sabbath. It’s

a time of rest and joy as they spend time with family and friends.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

 

God created Sabbath for mankind. He knows what he is doing, period. Not only do we break a commandment when we don’t keep Sabbath, we harm ourselves. We are not created to never stop. Even God rested. How much more do we need rest? This fast pace will eventually catch up to us and affect our well-being either physically, mentally or emotionally. So yes, once a week, we are to take our Sabbath rest, but I do believe there are also seasons that lend themselves to a modified sabbath rest.

 

Winter. When I think of winter, I think of cold outside, hopefully snowy, but when I come Inside, it is warm and cozy, and a hot bowl of soup hits the spot. The world can be like that, cold and blustery, but when we come into His presence, we feel His warmth and His love. We feel safe and protected. When we feast on His Word until we are full, we come away satisfied and nourished.

 

During this time of year, let’s take more time to come into His presence and rest. Turn off the TV, silence our phones, and close the computer. We can have a small Sabbath every single day. You choose. Cold and blustery or warm and protected.

 

The Jews “enter into” Sabbath like it is always there waiting for them. We can “enter into” our Sabbath when we enter into His presence. He, too, is always waiting.

Shalom.