The Gift of Rest
By Michele Kisthardt
Exodus 23:1-13 (NIV)
1 “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. 2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, 3 and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit. 4 “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it. 6 “Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty. 8 “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent. 9 “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.
10 “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. 12 “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed. 13 “Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.
Mark 2:23-27 (NIV)
23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 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.
The Gift of Rest
Everyone enjoys receiving a thoughtful gift to mark a special occasion or celebration. Whether it’s a box of chocolates, a favorite book or a lovely sweater, gifts are a welcome and much-appreciated part of our lives.
What if I told you that we’ve all been given the same wonderful gift? It’s not wrapped in a fancy package. Amazon didn’t deliver it to your doorstep. It’s not even a surprise. In fact, it’s right there in our scripture. Our God gave us the gift of Sabbath, which in Hebrew means “to rest.”
God loves us so much, that he blesses us by giving us rest and recovery not just for our physical bodies, but also for our souls. The Sabbath offers a time for joy, holiness, and rest. Imagine, as author Abraham Joshua Heschel says in his book The Sabbath, “It is a day that can soothe all sadness away.”
It is a day when we can experience a glimpse of God’s peace, a day when we can interrupt our routines to focus on God through worship, play, and rest. Perhaps our Sabbath is on Tuesday or Wednesday rather than Sunday or maybe it only lasts for a couple of hours instead of an entire day.
Whatever day we choose or however long it lasts, the Sabbath is an invitation to surrender and choose to delight in God. Remember, the commandment is given to us as a gift, not a burden.
This week, consider how you might receive the gift of Sabbath, the gift of rest. Turn off the noise. Open scripture. Share a meal. Take a walk. And let your soul remember: Rest on the Sabbath as if all your work is done. God is at work, even when you are not.