"Yes, because in six days God made the Heavens and the Earth and on the seventh day he stopped and took a long, deep breath." Exodus 31:17 (MSG)
In my youth I was a competitive swimmer. While swimming in a race, the act of taking a breath slowed you down. If you could keep from breathing on every stroke you could shave precious seconds off of your time and it gave you a competitive edge. The key was to push yourself as long as possible and worry about breathing after the race.
In the "rat race" of life, we get sucked into a similar belief. We push ourselves day-by-day to get as much done as possible, filling our lives with a blur of motion. The idea of "sabbath" has become a forgotten concept. If we stop, even for a moment, we might miss out on something. We might lose our edge. We may not be competitive.
I love the way the Message translates the Sabbath as "a long, deep breath." How often do I feel choked by my schedule? God knows that my spirit requires "a long, deep breath" on a regular basis. The discipline of rest feeds my body, mind and soul with spiritual oxygen. Rest is a holy practice I, too often, ignore.
There are six days for work but the seventh day is Sabbath, pure rest, holy to God.
I grew up thinking that Sunday was holy and sacred in the Laura Ingalls Wilder sort of way. We can’t move, we will sit in the parlor in our pretty dress and we will NOT wrinkle it. My parents weren’t that strict, but my childhood memories bring up that image. I have learned as I have aged that God KNEW that we needed physical and mental rest from an otherwise exhausting world. My family chooses to do that by worshiping first, they spending time with friends or family the rest of the day. It refreshes my soul…it prepares me for the craziness of the next week.