“Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27)

I have discovered that intentional rest (sabbath) is a gift and can be a balm to heal the body, mind and soul. It fosters trust in the One we lean on and re-establishes His place in our world as the priority.

Would you call the sabbath a delight? Meaning, do you relish, rejoice or find keen enjoyment in rest?

Normally, I would say no I do not. I struggle to even remember to take a rest day! But then I remembered that my family and I had attempted to celebrate Shabbat(The Judaic celebration of rest and another word for Sabbath) a while ago and have regularly continued to attempt it. One of us had gotten the idea from the TV show The Chosen.

It started with us using Shabbat as a chance for us to sit around a table, eat together and light pretty candles. And by ‘pretty’ I mean emergency candles that I found in my car that did the trick and appeared to burn for a long time. We were celebrating that we successfully moved my sister and brother in law into their new home, cleaned out their old one and had begun the unpacking process. It was interesting for us to attempt Shabbat while not really knowing how to or what it was, but I think all of us would say how much we appreciated being able to celebrate and spend intentional time together. We looked over our hard work with delight but also looked to the future with hope and excitement for what was to come. I found I was thrilled for the opportunity to rest, celebrate the previous week and the one to come, and toast “L’chaim” (meaning ‘to life’ in Hebrew). Honestly, those were the only things - a meal, a candle and a Hebrew word - that resembled the ancient celebration and practice but I find it achieved the same result: Delight.

In Luke 13:10-17, Jesus heals a crippled woman on the Sabbath, rebukes some indignant leaders, and “the people were delighted with all of the wonderful things he was doing.” I believe Jesus has this desire for us and has gifted it to us in order for us to live with delight. He has gifted us His grace to rest in so we will not foster a false sense of security based on our own works. But rather so we can delight in His creation, His presence, and His work. If we aim to “...call the Sabbath a delight” (Isaiah 58:13) and spend time in thankful reflection then it can form and focus our faith on HIS completed work. And therefore, guide us to see our part in proclaiming that delight to our housemates and neighbors during the rest of the week.

So my hope is that “we rest because He rested. We rest to refresh our souls and know Him better” (Episode 2, The Chosen). That because He first delighted in us (Psalm 18:19), we will discover delight in our lives, actively live in it and share it with others.

-Tneil Abt