I find it a skosh ironic that I’m the one writing on rest. I’ve been a single mother for the past seven years—with four kids—and every voicemail left on my phone starts with “I know you’re really busy, Johanna …”

But God and his timing …

This is a Christmas season where my heart is aching to refocus my children onto that which is important; the reason for the season, the Christ’s coming, the birth of our Lord and Savior and the savoring of the miracle and unfathomable grace that IS God incarnate. When better, then, to muster up the intention and the willpower to prepare my family for a God-ordained day of rest that clears the path to encountering him?

It’s in the top 5

God said: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” It is No. 4 of the big 10 (that’s above murder, folks) and is referenced over 170 times in the Bible. I’ve read on it. I’ve prayed on it. I’ve fumbled through trying to honor it and ultimately, have not grasped how to avoid becoming religious about it without being too lax. How do you honor the Sabbath without double the dishes on Monday? Or is washing dishes OK?

Since becoming a believer over 20 years ago, I’ve wrestled with the Sabbath. It’s painful to admit, but I didn’t fully grasp as a college student, or later with a family of young kids, how I could possibly “not work.” Papers were due, kids needed food and messes needed wiping and that was my “work”—24/7.

D.L. Moody once said, “I was all the time tugging and carrying water. But now I have a river that carries me.” I had heard those words but had not experienced it. I had no doubt that he could carry me, but I did not know the method by which I could enter his river. I trudged through the work, becoming more tired and more frustrated with a nagging feeling that I was missing an important piece of the puzzle.

Thou shalt

As I grow in both faith and years, I see more clearly how God’s natural world points to the divine engineering of our bodies and souls. Expecting that the result of following command No. 4 is holy rest, I think it’s apt to point out how it’s unlike many of the commandments where consequences are obvious (thou shalt not murder: avoids guilt/jail/excommunication … or thou shalt not commit adultery avoids broken family/fatherless or motherless children/ heartache etc). Command No. 4 is a reward command, or rather, a command for our wellbeing.

By having no other gods before him, we are the recipients of divine relationship. However, without practicing the command, we have no experiential motivators. Just as we cannot experience God while revering Buddha, we cannot experience true rest without honoring the Sabbath. But how are we to commit ourselves (let alone, our teenagers) to unplug, engage in face-to-face conversations, and worship?

Thankfully, God created this world to point to him. Once I see a natural law parallel to that of the spiritual, I’m able to more fully commit to a spiritual practice. And what do you know … I’ve found one for Sabbath rest!

Our bodies and our souls

I used to be a personal trainer. I was paid to help people become physically stronger, so I had to know the basics of muscle work-to-rest ratios in order to coach people into stronger bodies. It’s a fact we’re all likely familiar with—you cannot work the same muscle every day because doing so would hinder the body’s ability to rebuild the torn muscle fibers. You have to let that muscle rest … and then it builds back stronger! The University of Colorado, Boulder goes so far as to call our rest days growth days and it’s accurate.

If you’ve never lifted weights and were not privy to that nugget of fitness knowledge, how about toddlers? Have you seen how much they sleep? Their brains are developing faster than at any other stage of life and they sleep more in 24 hours than I do in four nights. Their rest is essential to the growth of their brains, just as our rest is essential to our spiritual growth and emotional, physical and cognitive health. How are those for motivators toward the intangible reward from rest promised by our Lord?

Remember

Lastly, God said to “remember” the Sabbath. I know it’s a directive to consider that the Creator of the universe rested but I think it may be equally appropriate to remember who he is. Do I trust that his command is good for me? Do I trust he will give me the rest I’ve mostly only read about? I haven’t consistently experienced Sabbath rest, but I do remember countless times where he has been faithful in other circumstances. I have experienced his goodness and kindness and trust that he has my best interest at heart. Setting apart a day for him is worth the effort because I know that his promises are good.

Time to take action

Allow me to share my not-religious plan for Sabbath rest this week: I’ll grocery shop on Saturday and meal prep for Sunday. And this Sunday, my family will unplug from our phones and computers, (there will be groaning, but enduring that is my job as a mom). We’ll go to church and sing and hear God’s Word and go home to do an Advent devotional and light a candle on our Advent wreath. Then … we’ll do all the things together that weeknights don’t allow. We will play charades (my 6-year-old’s favorite) and take turns playing our favorite Christmas songs. We’ll talk about the things that God has done for us and pray those blessings over friends and enemies alike. We’ll just be together honoring God and each other.

I suppose the dishes can wait. Better to err on the side of caution.

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