It is hard to live life when you feel like your cup is empty. Sometimes our lives just feel drained and we think “Do I have anything left to give?”. My first question would be, well are you taking the time to enjoy a Sabbath. We all need a day to Sabbath. When God made man, one day after creating us, he expressed the importance of a Sabbath. It is more than a day off. In fact, if you call it a day off rather than a Sabbath, you are more likely to ignore the significance of what it means to have a Sabbath. Sure the Sabbath is a day off but it is more than a day off and we don’t want to undermine the importance of such a day. The Sabbath is so important that when God wrote the Ten Commandments for Moses, he included taking a day to Sabbath on the list of Commandments next to stealing and adultery. To God this is a big deal, and it should be for all of us.
So what exactly is a Sabbath? It is a day to rest, recharge, refocus, and relate. We rest and recharge when we set aside all of our burdens and business by bringing the load of life’s struggles to God. The Bible repeatedly tells us that it is God who is the giver of life and strength. Therefore it is pertinent for us to recharge our lives in Him. We have a spiritual side that needs fed every day, and once a week we should take the time to gorge ourselves in God’s spiritual buffet. Second, we should always refocus. Take time once a week to reflect back on our week and ask the question was this what God wanted from me. Next look at the week ahead and ask the question, what does God want from me? By taking time to refocus it helps us stay on track and experience life the way God desired. I don’t think God desires for us, the type of busy life so many of us choose. You know the life that is so busy we neglect to bond with God and our family the way we should. Finally we relate. We find ourselves resting, recharging, and refocusing because we are relating to our Creator. He has designed us for an eternal relationship with Him and we should pursue growing together with Him. Jesus would often Go up to the mountain to pray and later come down to the valley to show others how to worship. He has also given us His bride, the church, to relate with us. That is, we bear burdens together, rejoice together, and find motivation by pursuing the same common goals together. As a parent you can even use the day to Sabbath with your kids or spouse in activities together. Teach your family how importance of this day of rest.
The Sabbath is important for man because it keeps us in tune with God and His desire for our life. God did not make the Sabbath to slow you down or cause you to feel weak, but to speed you up and give you strength. Rather than waste our time and energy pursuing life in a direction that struggles to make it through the day, God wants to take time to relationally renew our lives and refocus our direction in order to strengthen us to live life with a full cup. We all need to become better at turning off the cell phones, saying “no” to events, guard one day out of our week, and take the time to relax and enjoy our Creator.
It is hard to live life when you feel like your cup is empty. Do you feel drained? Are you taking the time to Sabbath? God delights to fill your cup and He commands you to stop and rest with Him.