REFLECTIONS ON REST The Way of Love Bible Challenge, a new release published by Forward Movement, features 50 days of Bible readings and reflections that highlight the seven core spiritual practices of the Way of Love: Turn, Learn, Pray, Worship, Bless, Go and Rest. The following meditations are two excerpts from the “Rest” section of this inspirational new resource.
DAY 5
If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 58:13-14 The Way of Love practice that I have the hardest time following is rest. I’m not talking about the rest of taking a nap or binge-watching my favorite show, but the true, restorative rest that God demands we offer one day a week, where we devote time to spiritual pursuits. Laundry, I guarantee you, is not a spiritual pursuit, no matter how you try to dress it up. Remembering the sabbath is the fourth commandment – and the only commandment that I believe we break consistently and with pride. Our culture is in a place where we honor busyness. We celebrate our overcommitted schedules, our burgeoning calendars, our inability to get everything done. We pack ourselves tight along with our children and our parents and call it a life well lived. Following the Way of Love reminds us that there is a different path we can take. Isaiah makes clear what happens when we follow our own interests and pursue our own affairs: We trample the sabbath, and we do not honor God with our actions. With my feet firmly planted in midlife, with aging children on one side and aging and dying parents on the other, I need to acknowledge that rest is what God demands of me – of all of us – and what we must demand of ourselves. No matter how significant our work, no matter how important our child’s dance practice, no matter how serious our parent’s doctor’s visit, we must restore our hearts and minds so that we can live fully into a God-filled existence.
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