Sabbath is more than just a day off of work. It’s a way of ordering one’s life around a weekly rhythm: six Go Days; one Stop Day.
God’s Stop Day reminded the ancient Israelites that they were no longer slaves who could never stop. They had been freed from Pharaoh’s rule, and the Master who ruled them was a restful God. Slaves work non-stop; God’s liberated people do not.
We, however, work non-stop. Some form of work is at our finger tips 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Always on. Always plugged in. Endlessly productive.
If we do not regularly quit work for one day a week we take ourselves far too seriously.
—Eugene Peterson
If you stop for a day, the great miracle is that the world will still go on without you. The Sabbath is a reminder that you are the created, not the Creator; you are the made, not the Maker; you are the limited, not the Limitless.
Busyness is not a badge of honor. Busyness is the spiritual illness of our culture. We proclaim ourselves “free,” but our masters are the clock and the todo list—the modern day Pharaohs that we download into our pockets.
O busy, busy bees walking to and fro
What if we close our eyes?
What if we can’t wake up?
I hope you all rest in peace
I hope you find what you’re looking for
But if that’s all that you got
Well, then there’s got to be more
—The Chariot, “They Faced Each Other”
The Sabbath testifies to us that, yes, there’s more—more that is only enjoyed by busy bees who know when to stop buzzing.
(See Deuteronomy 5:1-21).