Marva Dawn, in her book "Keeping the Sabbath Wholly" (not misspelled), points out some interesting principles of "ceasing" that I want to summarize in my own words. In Gen. 2:3, we find these words, "And God blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy, because on it He ceased from all the work of creating that He had done."
What are we teaching our children and grandchildren about the principle of the Sabbath? Do we just say, "we are going to church?" Or do we say, "the Lord has taught us to set aside a time where we 'cease' doing other things and wait before Him?" There is an obvious importance put on ceasing on a day set apart as Holy unto Him. What are some of the principles of "ceasing"?
We should cease to work. Most Americans work flat out 5 days a week and then try to catch up around the house and yard, take kids here and there on Saturday and Sunday to the exclusion of having a day of ceasing. God is saying to us that we can't keep breaking the rhythm of life as He provided and not suffer consequences.
We should also cease productivity and accomplishment. Our culture worships productivity and accomplishment and we make it about a person's self-worth. When we meet someone, we don't say, tell me about you. We say, "What do you do?" But the Sabbath principle is about setting aside a day to remember that we are precious in God's sight and lavishly loved by Him, not because of what we produce.
We should cease anxiety, worry, and stress. In Phil. 4 Paul clearly instructs us to "Rejoice in the Lord . . . and to not be anxious or worry about anything, presenting our requests to the Lord and letting His peace in Christ Jesus transform our attitudes." Keeping the Sabbath helps us to do this.
We also need to cease trying to be God in our lives. If we stop working, accomplishing and worrying we are freed by the Sabbath principle from the need of creating our own future. God shows us over and over in the Old Testament that God will provide.
We can cease from our possessiveness, being a slave to our culture, and meaninglessness if we will but be faithful to observe the Sabbath principle. The Sabbath separates us from things, conforms our lives to the living Word rather than culture, and gives us a chance to celebrate the life God has given us.
May we learn to cease and therefore worship. mjm
