How actually taking a day off to do no work makes a huge difference.
Background:
Recently I started hearing a lot of people talking about how Christians don't really follow the Old Testament and that we act like because Jesus came none of that is relevant anymore, currently I'm not fully sure where I stand on that subject however it did get me thinking and doing a lot of research.
For me it actually started when I read a book my catholic friend gave me trying to try to convince me to become catholic, and although that didn't happen it did get me thinking because there are a lot of verses that talk about tradition, and the church being more important that a lot of protestants seem to treat it.
My desire being to want to honor God with my whole heart and in all that I do I really became perplexed at this and honestly, I was having a faith crisis there for a little while because I knew there were many things about the Catholic church I couldn't stand behind, but they shared some really good points I had never previously considered. That's when I stumbled across an Instagram account where the woman was talking about Torah observance (I will leave her account linked below if you're interested) or as I was familiar with if being called, Messianic Judaism. Although at the time of writing this I am not fully into this body of believers I'm becoming more and more convinced that this is what God wants for our family and what He meant when he said we are grafted into the vine of Israel/adopted into His family. The More I read about this the more I realized that most Christians follow all of the 10 commandments except the one telling us to honor the Sabbath and keep it Holy. In case you forgot I will refresh your memory here on what they are:
Then God said all these words:
א 2 “I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the abode of slavery.
ב 3 “You are to have no other gods before me. 4 You are not to make for yourselves a carved image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath or in the water below the shoreline. 5 You are not to bow down to them or serve them; for I, Adonai your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but displaying grace to the thousandth generation of those who love me and obey my mitzvot (commandments).
ג 7 “You are not to use lightly the name of Adonai your God, because Adonai will not leave unpunished someone who uses his name lightly.
ד 8 “Remember the day, Shabbat (Sabbath), to set it apart for God. 9 You have six days to labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Shabbat for Adonai your God. On it, you are not to do any kind of work — not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property. 11 For in six days, Adonai made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. This is why Adonai blessed the day, Shabbat, and separated it for himself.
ה 12 “Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land which Adonai your God is giving you.
ו 13 “Do not murder.
ז (14) “Do not commit adultery.
ח (15) “Do not steal.
ט (16) “Do not give false evidence against your neighbor.
י 14 (17) “Do not covet your neighbor’s house; do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
(Parentheses added for clarification).
This really bothered me, and at the time my husband was working both Friday and Saturday overnights so there was no way we could possibly properly observe a typical Jewish Shabbat, but I knew we need to take having a day of rest seriously. The more research I did the more I've come to believe (and I could be wrong here) that because Jesus said, "Then He said to them, 'Shabbat was made for Mankind not mankind for Shabbat,'" Mark 2:27 CJB and because Paul talks about one man esteems one day above others and another views all days alike and that we should just be fully convinced in our minds on what we decide to do Romans 14:5-6, that celebrating a sabbath on Sunday would still be honoring God's commandment to take a sabbath day of rest so that is when I started to take resting every Sunday more seriously.
So, what does that look like?
For me personally that means I do everything I can to avoid cooking, I leave the dishes and laundry for Monday, and I don't do any of my routine cleaning (I talk more about the cleaning routine in these 2 posts The Fly Lady Cleaning Method and Fly Lady Zones). This also means I don't go grocery shopping or anything like that either. For my husband this means he doesn't pick up side-work and as a whole we prioritized resting, spending time together and just having fun. Sometimes this means a video call with my extended family or and afternoon playing games (lately it has been a lot of Yahtzee). We sometimes will dedicate the day to using technology minimally or not at all to really see each other and spend some true quality time together. We also attend church every Sunday morning because we believe in the importance of fellowshipping with other believers, to encourage, teach and bear with one another.
How has this effected our family?
Well, I will say even though I get nothing done, the relationships between me and my family has never felt better. Taking intentional time to spend with your family and not worry about the work that needs to get done has been so refreshing. Also knowing that no matter what the week has looked like, or the next week will look like I can always count on and look forward to my Sunday with my family and getting that quality time with my husband in it also frees us from the burden of having to say yes to everything because were just never available on Sunday so either it happens Saturday (when people ask us for help with things) or we are unable to do it simple as that.
You may be wondering well doesn't a sink full of dishes and backed up laundry make you more stressed? Well actually no because knowing I won't be doing anything on Sunday, it makes me more intentional to make sure that those things are done in advance, that means even if I am feeling really lazy, exhausted to unmotivated on Saturday night I still choose to wash my dishes, so we have them to eat off of on Sunday and so Monday morning I won't want to have a mental breakdown. This also means I am being intentional to keep on top of my laundry all week, so my husband has clothes for work, my toddler has clean diaper (subscribe Here if you want to hear more about that), and that I have clean underwear for the week (you know the necessities).
Not only has a sabbath rest helped my family spend more quality time together and intentionally grow our relationships amongst each other but it has also helped to hold me accountable in my work around the house, this is in addition to starting the week off feeling refreshed and well rested so we can do a better job at serving one another. Observing a sabbath is a beautiful way, ordained by God, to slow down, live in the present and intentionally invest in what matters most. It has brought more benefits the I even thought it might and I think this is just the beginning of the fruit were going to see from this in our home. If you haven't implemented this practice in your home I strongly encourage you to dedicate one day a week to the Lord in rest and not do any traditional work but really prioritize your family relationships, talking about the things of God and resting, truly resting.
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