Voices: Sabbath: You have permission to rest

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Some things we never forget—the first day of school, getting married, having your first child or getting baptized. Many people can recall these events like they were yesterday.

Sabbath is a day many people do forget, however. Why do we forget about the Lord’s fourth commandment?

I never will forget the day I read an article and truly rested for what felt like the first time. My teacher instructed us to read the article “Doing Nothing is Something” and then go outside for 20 minutes. We had to leave everything inside—our phones, laptops, pens, paper, everything—to embrace the quiet.

When we came back inside, most of my classmates seemed anxious, sleepy or annoyed. I, however, was the most rested I had felt in a long time. Unfortunately, I had no idea what to do with the experience. Should I do this again? Was taking 20 minutes to rest even allowed? What if this was the only time I ever would feel this way?

A few years after reading this article, I was surprised and convicted when I listened to a sermon by guest preacher A.J. Swoboda at Bridgetown Church in Portland and realized not once had I remembered the Lord’s fourth commandment.

I knew the fourth commandment was about having a Sabbath, but I never had realized the profound implications of the Lord commanding us not to participate in Sabbath, but to remember the Sabbath.

Understanding Sabbath

The irony of forgetting the Sabbath lies at the heart of our obsessive need never to stop. Being busy is for us about making memories and showing others our worth, but what happens when we forget where our true worth lies? What happens when value is determined by society rather than being made in the image of God?

God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:1-3). Jesus rested all the time. In fact, we most often read of Jesus resting when the world was turning upside down for everyone around him (Mark 6:31; Matthew 15:21-28; 16:13-18). If God rested and commanded us to rest, and if Jesus also rested, why is resting so hard for us?

In today’s world, busyness can be a positive predictor of productiveness or a warning sign of deeper issues in one’s life. Either way, both pathways lead away from rest, which is a basic necessity in Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” and a directive from YHWH (Exodus 20:8-10a, 11b).


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The disconnect between God’s command and our struggle to keep it might be due to a misunderstanding. The definition of rest often seems to be confused with the concept of being idle. But rest includes activity such as thinking introspectively and honoring and celebrating the goodness of God.

A person, a family or even a community does not rest for the sake of simply “stopping,” but rather to take a moment—or even a full day—to remember why we are alive, why we work and to celebrate being children of YHWH.

Ways to practice rest

The following are a few ideas for beginning the journey of rest.

1. Put away electronic distractions for at least 30 minutes a day. Seek to hear the Father’s still, quiet voice, or have an intentional conversation with a loved one beginning with prayer and thanksgiving. Where two or more are gathered, there our God will be also (Matthew 18:20).

2. Go for a walk, lay in the grass, or sit on a bench in silence with no distractions for 10 minutes. The voice of God is still and quiet, and he seeks time with you alone, just like he did with Jesus (Luke 5:16).

3. Practice awareness with your senses. Here are three ways to do that.

(a) Put dry rice in a bowl. For five minutes, put your hand in the bowl and feel the rice. Notice your hand, the rice touching your hand, your muscles moving. This practice is for reorienting yourself to the present rather than everything that has happened and everything that will happen. There is enough happening today; there is no need to worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:24).

(b) Take 10 minutes to eat or drink something you enjoy. Notice the distinct tastes, the feeling you experience both in your mouth and in your heart. As you savor, have a heart of thankfulness, believing in the privilege we have to enjoy our favorite things in life and a Father who gives good gifts to his children (Matthew 7:11).

(c) Set a timer for the time you can spare. Put a song on repeat that lifts your spirit. Whether you sing or listen, notice the rhythm of the song, the beats that carry the music from start to finish, the melody as a unique creation. Feel the environment around you and rest in the goodness of music (Isaiah 42:10).

4. Evaluate: What is God saying to you through this? Reflect on how much you rest and why you do not rest. Would the world continue if you took a break? If the world would stop, why? If the world doesn’t stop, are you still OK?

Child-of-the-One-Who-Knows-You, you have permission to rest. You have permission to heal. You have permission to see yourself the way our Father in heaven sees you—loved, seen and forgiven. May you rest in this knowledge. May you remember the Sabbath. Amen.

CORRECTION: The number of the Sabbath commandment was corrected to “fourth,” and the reference to A.J. Swoboda was updated to include he was the guest preacher (May 11, 2023).

Kayelee Arensman is a graduate of Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work and is pursuing a Master of Divinity at Baylor’s Truett Theological Seminary. She is a licensed master social worker and a member of Highland Baptist Church in Waco. The views expressed are those of the author.


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