Farewell, Beautiful Sabbath!

We were walking along a gravel road.

It was a Saturday evening, and I had not noticed the sun was setting. My friend, Jairus, stopped, looked toward the horizon, waved his arm as if saying goodbye to someone he knew, and said, “Farewell, beautiful Sabbath!” I had been a Christian for only a couple of years and had never witnessed anyone relate to the Sabbath in that way. I was deeply impressed. Yes, the Sabbath was a beautiful day, and yes, this was farewell. The Sabbath wouldn’t be back for almost another week.

I realized again what a special experience the Sabbath was. It was a release valve. Work stopped. All secular cares were set to one side.

There was time for unhurried worship, for fellowship, and for enjoying nature and the companionship and encouragement of friends.

Before making room for Sabbath observance in my life, my churchgoing experience had included an hour each week at church.

In fact, it was usually a little less than an hour a week, especially if I “had to” leave the worship service a little early.

That day wasn’t any sort of Sabbath at all. There was no rest in the sense God intended. It was an hour at most of churchgoing squeezed into the business of my life. Keeping the Sabbath called a halt to the busyness of what Ezekiel referred to as “the six working days” (Ezekiel 46:1). It placed the focus of my week on my relationship with not just any god, but with the Creator God, the One who formed me, redeemed me, and sustains me and whose Son, Jesus, is soon returning for me.

My friend helped me to see that the Sabbath isn’t simply a matter of one day being more right than another. Rather, the Sabbath is the capstone of a close, personal relationship with the Majesty of the heavens.

It is recognition of God’s ownership of a life and, therefore, of God’s pledge to sustain and prosper that life. The Sabbath directs the believer to the heart of God and works to open the heart to heaven’s blessing.