I Haven’t Begun To Experience The Sabbath

So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.  Genesis 2:3  ESV

What happens when God blesses something?  The Hebrew concept from the word ‘bless’ is this ~ God ‘praises and gives strength to something and removes it from common use.’    

Could all of this be true about the Sabbath?  I think I’ve always believed that the seventh day of the week (my church day) is a day just like the other six except I choose to do different things.  It’s quieter and more restful.  I’m realizing that true teaching on the power of the original Sabbath is absent.

Since God blessed the Sabbath, made it holy, and infused strength into it, that changes the picture entirely.  When the seventh day begins, I need to take my shoes off at the burning bush.  The ordinary and the mundane promise to melt away if I immerse myself in profound sacredness. 

In the welcomed silence, God will do something physical, emotional, and spiritual to me.  As I rest, He will bless me with measures of strength that are supernatural.  He will engage in a deep impartation of restoration.  To the extent that I engage with Him in return, He will illumine things I thought I previously understood.  

The last element of the Sabbath is resting.  As He rested after creation, there was another time in history where it happened.  It was the moment Jesus said, “It is finished.”  The noise of evil against the Son of God had been on a sharp upward curve, resulting in a horrific crucifixion.  While it might have appeared that God had been murdered, “It is finished!” pierced the silence, and evil trembled.  The worst had happened for the fallen angels.  The curse had been reversed.  Death had been defeated.  Sin had been paid for. 

So, on my next Sabbath, I’m going to look for ‘holy’, opening my heart wide to the pregnant, sacred moments God is waiting to give to those who come expectantly.  No one can stand on holy ground without leaving changed! I can emerge with new vigor, with new spiritual energy and wisdom.

Prepare me.  Amen