The Spiritual Practice Of Sabbath

“Work hard, play hard” is a common cliché that many people in modern society know, but hardly ever adhere to. In a career oriented society, this saying is much like a balance with the scale leaning significantly towards the hard work portion. For me personally, I see tired, overworked people everywhere. When I’m walking to class at my university, I can see the exhaustion on many of the faces of the staff and the students alike. However, what many people don’t know is that there is a remedy to this overtiredness. In scripture, the Sabbath is one day of the week that a person should do absolutely no work. The bible explains that, when creating the world, God worked for six days, and rested on the seventh. God instructs his people to follow in his footsteps, and take a day to rest from the work done throughout the week. It is mentioned throughout the bible several times, so God is very serious about keeping it holy. If God himself is so serious about the Sabbath, then I believe his people should make a vow to keep it holy. After all, there are many reasons that keeping the Sabbath is so important in the first place. If there is no day of rest from work, then there is no chance of success outside of work. Let’s face it, many people, myself included, need to realize purpose does not come from work alone. Purpose is a combination of qualities such as personality, relationships, hobbies, and interests. A person is so much more than just their career.

The Seventh Day: - By this day, everything was created and put into shape and order. And God rested on the seventh day and he glorified it as a day of rest. Therefore we should work for six days and rest on the Seventh day, Shabbat, which God blessed and sanctified for all time to come. By observing the Shabbat day, we show that we believe in God as the Creator of the world.

Wisdom Distilled from the daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today by Joan Chittister writes a chapter than includes the importance of taking time off. Chittister uses a candle to demonstrate the importance of taking time to regain your strength. She talks about how you need to take time for yourself so your inner flame can glow again and you can pass that onto others. This down time is important for self reflection and contemplation. This down time will allow me to reflect on what I have been through and further “let go” and be able to forgive God. Chittister says your candle has to be lit before you can light the candles of others. I really liked this concept and feel it is very present in my life. I feel called by God to help others

It is a day of rest (they do not work or have others work for them, emergencies are exceptions) and connection to God. Sabbath is kept from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. The Seventh-day Sabbath originates from Creation, when God rested from His work on the seventh day. Keeping the Sabbath is a perpetual sign of the everlasting covenant between God and his people, a symbol of love. God gave each one of us life, and guarding the Sabbath and keeping it holy shows reverence and respect to God, our creator. The Sabbath is a golden opportunity to engage in activities that will help establish and enhance a long-lasting relationship with God, rest and fellowship in nature along with reading the Bible are common activities on the Sabbath as well as other days. On Sabbath, as well as every other day, constant contact with God is kept. Adventists talk to him like a friend, we serve a wonderful God who wants to be our friend, He is a loving, caring God who wants us to feel loved and protected by

1. The last step to ensure that I can balance my life is to take daily “time-outs.”

Judaism is an ancient religion which originated in the Middle East and has spread throughout the world. Today the followers of Judaism have many tradition s and rituals in which are celebrated all year round in thanks and in praise to God. Shabbat is one of the most important rituals and is celebrated by nearly every variant of the Jewish Religion.

Christian beliefs of life are a sacred gift from God. For me personally, I do believe that life and all of its wonders is a gift given to us from God, and that all life should be respected. My belief as a Christian is that our lives are not our own, but God’s. He created us in His image and for a purpose, giving us a type of sacredness. As Christians, at least how I believe, we are suppose to want to give our lives up to God, and through His son Jesus Christ in us, to be a light to the world to show God’s love and grace to others. This action resembles a type of duty, or an obligation that is assigned to us by our Creator, making our very being sacred.

I used to think that I needed to set aside thirty minutes everyday just for me. That’s easy to do, right? But life gets in the

3. One thing I was not previously aware of is on page 111 when Bethke talks about how the Sabbath’s purpose is to fill the earth with God’s presence and to remind us that we are free. I never thought about how the Sabbath was God’s last day of creation, but it was Adam and Eve’s first day of life. It’s crazy how the first day they were alive was a day of peace and relaxation and filling. That means it is very important and should be a part of our normal lives. If their first day was relaxing, then it shows the importance of taking a day to rest and fill up with God. He’s showing us that we need to start our weeks out by spending time with Him and filling up ourselves with Him first instead of the busyness of life. And by taking that time away from the distractions of life,

It is a tradition for some people to go to church on Sunday to worship a certain deity; however, Emily speaks about how the Sabbath is celebrated with her. The Sabbath was known as the seventh day of the creation of the earth and on that day God rested. Emily represents herself as rested when she writes “I keep it staying home” (line 2). Emily tells her readers that the Sabbath should be a day to relax and not a day of hard working. On the other hand, there is another viewpoint on this certain quote that should be

Fortunately, I decided two weeks ago, that on June 20, 2016 I was going embark on a deeper level of praying, meditating, and fasting. On Monday’s I participate in a group prayer at 5:15am, so after I finished I was able to go into silence and solitude mode. Whenever there is a call for stillness, I must partake in it as early as possible. The earlier the better, because if I try to do any activities after 7a.m., it is unlikely that it will get accomplished, because my kids are like raging bulls that have been let out of the stable, and they need my undivided attention to secure their safety. The only challenge I ran into was since I started the “Draw the Circle 40-Day Prayer Challenge” today, my phone was buzzing with inquiries with people that wanted to join. Therefore, that was a slight distraction.

This was a special meeting day for Christians on which they observed practices such as: the Lord’s supper, prayer, singing, reading from the Scriptures, and exhortation. Certain early Jewish Christians celebrated Sabbath as well as the Lord’s day, for observing the Lord’s Day was originated from the Jewish practice of observing Sabbath.

Chapter 2 basically talks about the Sabbath Day, the Garden of Aden, and the relationship between man and woman, as well as the relationship between human beings and God. The Sabbath day is basically the day of rest and worship. It is the day that God rested after the creation work. It marks the beginning and the foundation of religion. The seventh Day is a very special day in the life of a Christian since it is during this day that we can have time to communicate to the creator, give thanks, and maintain a personal relationship with Him. All that God created became the generations of heavens and earth.

Practice Monday threw Friday from three o’clock to seven, and then eleven until two on Saturdays! As the Lord did, we got to rest on Sundays. It was

I entered into the worship service, unaware of what to expect. I was not familiar with this church, it was a non-denominational church, but the pastor had his roots in the A.M.E. Zion Church and branched out to establish his own church. I walked into the sanctuary prepared to participate in the Sunday School. I found a seat and readied myself to engage in some meaningful discussion. After sitting for several minutes, I asked one of the gentlemen who was standing at the front of the church if they had already started and where was the lesson coming from. He looked at his watch and indicated that he didn’t know if we had time for Sunday School. A puzzled look came over my face and I couldn’t help but express my confusion as I looked at