Dude Skill #6: REST – Part 4
#34 IN MY SERIES OF POSTINGS DEDICATED TO SUMMARIZING A WONDERFUL BOOK ENTITLED “THE DUDE’S GUIDE TO MARRIAGE: TEN SKILLS EVERY HUSBAND MUST DEVELOP TO LOVE HIS WIFE WELL” BY DARRIN & AMIE PATRICK.
What Do I Do On The Sabbath?
When you observe the Sabbath, you cease from what is duty. Now, I’m not saying that you tell the kids to make their own mac and cheese. I’m not saying that you ignore some of your responsibilities. I’m saying that you don’t do what you don’t have to do.
Don’t Do What You Don’t Have To Do
This is the day you don’t do laundry. This is the day you don’t go to the store. This is the day you don’t do anything that’s not absolutely urgent. Sabbath is about breaking routine. My wife and I hate doing house chores. Washing dishes, sweeping, vacuuming, doing laundry, and wiping down counters often feel like soul-crushing tasks. On the sabbath we avoid this daily maintenance. We structure our week to get these things done ahead of time. We empower our kids to fend for themselves in age-appropriate ways.
But sabbath is about more. It’s active. You engage in things that bring you life and give you joy. Sabbath includes play. It’s about family and friends.
Do Try To Connect With God
This is a day or worship. Yet it’s rest, but also remembrance. Sabbath is about remembering what is truly life by forgetting normal life for a day. Jews and Christians give special attention to God. We put away the distractions and set our gaze on God. This day is about knowing God more deeply.
Mark Buchanan is a gifted writer on these truths. He says, “some knowing is never pursued, only received. Some things you can know only if you’re receiving not pursuing. What is that kind of knowing? What is that goal? It’s not just taking a Sabbath day. The goal is to have a Sabbath heart. It’s not just a day of rest but a heart of rest. It’s not just a day of focus but a heart that is rightfully focused. There is a pulling back. There is a passive element. There is a pressing on.
Do Things That Refresh Your Soul
Among the things I love about Christian theology is the concept of grace. Grace says that I can rest from my work because my significance, my meaning, and my identity do not come from what I do. I don’t have to go frantically from one thing to another in my life. The ultimate person in the universe is already impressed, not because of my work but because of the work of Jesus Christ, the embodiment of grace. Sabbath rest reminds me that the work provides has already been done by a perfect man who loves me in my imperfection.
Because I don’t have to perform for God, trying to earn His favor, I can delight in His world. I can bask in the creativity of God by going outside to enjoy nature, whether it is going to a park or sitting on my deck. Even doing yard work helps me connect to God and celebrate the goodness of His work.
TO BE CONTINUED IN MY NEXT ARTICLE…
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