Tag: Sabbath

Vertical Christianity – Ep. 8: “Valuing Rest”

June 21, 2025 – Dr. David P. Craig, Founder, Vertical Living Ministries 

According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity. Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to the critical Athenian, “Now answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bow implies.” The man looked at it for several moments ments but had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make. Aesop explained, “If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it.” People are also like that. That’s why we all need to take time to rest.

When you fly on a plane, one of the only instructions you get while taxiing before taking off is about putting the oxygen mask on yourself before helping your child on a plane; the point is that YOU ARE NO GOOD TO OTHERS UNLESS YOU ARE GOOD YOURSELF.

  • Augustine, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.’
  • Vance Havner, “Jesus knows we must come apart and rest awhile, or else we may just plain come apart.”
  • Eugene Peterson, “Sabbath is not primarily about us or how it benefits us; it is about God and how God forms us…I don’t see any way out of it; if we are going to live appropriately in the creation, we must keep the Sabbath.” ~ Working The Angles, p. 46.

MATTHEW 11:28-30, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

IMPLEMENT A DAILY TIME TO R.E.S.T WITH GOD

Retreat – Get away for some time with God in silence and solitude.

Enjoy – Spend time enjoying God. According to the Rabbi’s the goal of the sabbath was to delight in God. 

Psalm 16:11, You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 

Stop – Sabbath means to stop or cease. By detaching from what we normally engage in, we are reminded that God is God, and we are not. You may think you can’t break away from work for an extended period of time, but God will honor your rest. He was in control before you came on the scene and He will be in control long after you depart from the scene!

Talk – Devote time to conversing with God, but don’t speak the whole time. Sit and listen to God. Sitting and waiting on the Lord can teach us in ways that words can’t. Sit in God’s presence with no agenda. Notice His creation and enjoy His company. Implement a daily rest with Him: Retreat…Enjoy…Stop…Talk…

IMPLEMENT A WEEKLY TIME OF REST

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ~ Exodus 20:8

  • God in resting from work on the seventh day wasn’t tired – He was modeling for us what our rhythm of life should look like.
  • Don’t think of the Sabbath as a specific day of the week—a Saturday or a Sunday—but as a season of time. A 24 hour period, free from the normal routine of work, devoted to being with God.
  • Peter Scazzero has stated that for most of us “our role has outpaced our soul.” Could it be that you are working for rest and not from rest? For many of us what we do for God is not sustained by our time with God. We need to learn how to work from rest, rather than to work for rest.

Book Review: Sabbath by Dan B. Allender

From Duty to Delight

Dan Allender’s very practical book on the application of the Sabbath to today’s thesis is that practicing the Sabbath results in “delight that delivers us to joy.” He reminds us that the Sabbath is “not merely a good idea; it is one of the Ten Commandments.” Therefore the Sabbath is not optional but a biblical command or absolute that needs to be practiced. However, instead of this merely being an oppressive duty consisting of do’s and don’t’s, the adherence of the practitioner of the Sabbath is led into peace, abundance, and joy.

In other words, the Sabbath was modeled by God Himself after creation not so much as an act of rest, but to actively enjoy and participate in His creation. God has designed the Sabbath for us to proactively enjoy Him, and His creation (not just vegetate and check out on the Sabbath) – because we have been made to find our satisfaction and delight in Him above all else. In the midst of the busyness of our lives God knew that we would need time set apart to celebrate and delight in Him and what He has made for our pleasure.

The book was very helpful in providing many applications of how to delight in God. He did an adequate job with the Scriptures that relate to the Sabbath, and a good biblical theological overview of the reasoning behind God’s establishing this day of delight.

I highly recommend this book – especially as an introduction to keeping the Sabbath and for those who want to spend more time delighting in God and His creation in creative and satisfying ways that result in living the abundant life that Jesus came to give us.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I am under no compulsion to write a positive or negative review of this book. The opinions expressed are exclusively my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.