Honor the Sabbath

When I became a father for the third time, I found myself in a difficult situation. On the one hand, I wanted to provide for my family. To do that, I had to work. My regular job certainly wouldn’t be enough to eventually make our dream of owning a home a reality. My options: work more, prove to my boss that I deserved a raise, or take on a second job. Or quit and find a higher-paying job. That would certainly require me to spend more time working. Time that I don’t really have because I still want to spend time with my family. And shouldn’t I still have time with my wife, and eventually, wouldn’t I also want some time for myself? When would I have room to fit in quiet time, time with the Lord?

I felt a restlessness within me. All my energy was scattered across every area of my life, and nowhere could I recharge that energy. I felt as if I were swimming in a sea of stress, uncertainty, and responsibility, yet I couldn’t get a handle on any of it. This restlessness grew with each passing week, and soon I felt as if I couldn’t go on any longer. I had to get out. I had to free myself from this restlessness. I needed an emergency stop.

Fortunately, I did hit such an emergency stop. My wonderful wife signed me up for a character-building weekend organized by 4M. The trip took me to Scotland. The purpose of the trip? That wasn’t clear to me at first. Just before the trip began, doubts started creeping in. Is this really a good idea? It does cost some money. I don’t know anyone there! Once I arrived, I quickly realized that all of these roughly one hundred men felt the same way. They might not have had the same doubts as I did, but they were all grappling with something in their lives that led them to decide to take on this character-building weekend.

Now I was in the Scottish wilderness, with nothing more than a backpack packed with clothes, a tent, and food for three days. I had no idea what was in store for me. Wouldn’t I be better off at home with my wife and kids right now? How could I just leave them alone like that? I’d usually be in bed sleeping at this time, but instead I was wandering around in the dark, not knowing how long we’d have to walk. But the Lord wanted me right there. I was cut off from everything else. No cell phone. No watch. No schedule. What I was able to experience that weekend still gives me goosebumps now, almost a year later. I don’t want to reveal exactly everything we did there in Scotland. To anyone whose interest has been piqued by this brief description, I can only highly recommend signing up for a character-building weekend.

One of the many things that has stayed with me is this retreat into a sense of calm—a break from everyday life and work. It’s nothing new. No groundbreaking idea. In fact, such a pause is already described in the Bible. It is even one of the Ten Commandments. I’m talking about the Sabbath. The Sabbath, or Shabbat, is the seventh day of the week, on which one is to rest and pause. For example, Exodus 20:8–11 states:

„Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.“

Or in Isaiah 58: 13-14:

„If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.“

So how might this look in our daily lives? It is not intended that we stop doing any kind of work at all, such as cleaning the kitchen in the evening, cooking, or even doing the laundry. If we were to take the Sabbath so strictly, we could be compared to the Pharisees, for example, in the Gospel of Mark. There, Jesus himself explains once again exactly what the Sabbath is for. It is written in Mark 2:23–28:

„And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.“

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Even back then, God understood how important it is to build rest periods into our daily lives. For me, it’s very clear: when I come home from work on Friday evenings, I don’t bring my work home with me. Of course I serve in the church, of course I help with the household chores, but I do not go about my “business” one day a week. This is for the good of myself, my wife, and my children. If during the week, in the evening, my thoughts are still on work, my blog, or some other business of mine, that is one thing. But on the Sabbath, I am fully present at home with my family. It also gives me the chance to devote my thoughts more to the Lord. How often do I catch myself going through my morning routine and suddenly realizing I’m running short on time? I end up moving my prayer to the car, where I’m not fully focused anyway—sometimes it gets skipped entirely. Before I know it, a whole week has gone by without me ever having placed that day in the Lord’s hands. The Sabbath allows for a reset. I can gather myself anew, build up fresh momentum for good habits, and deepen my conversation with the Lord.

If you find yourself feeling restless, I encourage you: Consciously hold your Sabbath. Maybe it needs to be a whole weekend sometimes. Take a step back and focus on what really matters. Focus on the Lord!

Do you have your Sabbath already scheduled in your week? How do you plan your Sabbath? How has it helped you so far? Share your experiences with me! Or do you have questions about the Sabbath? Write to me and I’ll get in touch!