“And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 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 2:2-3)

By Guest Writer Dr. Jim O’Neill, Author of “Teaming up with God“

God did the unthinkable; He rested on the 7th day. After 6 creating filled days with minutes, hours and days full of bringing the universe out of nothing. He concluded the week with a rest. This would be called the Sabbath…the rest. This would become so important that God would call it ‘holy’. Rest is holy? Yes!

Does rest work? We humans cannot function well without rest, both nightly and weekly. When the Communists took control of Russia in 1917 within a short period of time Vladimir Lenin and their leaders sought to remove all vestiges of Christian influence including the 7 day work/rest sequence. They created a 2-week cycle for work and animal care. Within months their animals could not sustain this much work without rest as this new pattern was destroying their economy. When their animals and humans functional rhythms disintegrated, the leaders had to admit there was something to this Christian idea of rest. They had to go back to the 7-day cycle or risk of destroying the social order. (more…)

(Psalms 42:7)  “Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me”  

(Guest writer with Sterling is Dr. Jim O’Neill)

Wayne Miller notes in “Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and delight in our busy lives” that we are driven by three values, “consumption, speed, and productivity consumption have become the most valued human commodities.” These values hinder us from giving careful attention to our souls.

What I would like to suggest is 5 practices to help jump start us forward in attending to our souls and push back against these cultural trends.

1.  IMPORTANCE OF LOCATION:

Find a place isolated from unnecessary noise. If possible a venue with no or little computer or cell service. A place that is beautiful and meaningful to you. The correlation between the physical space outdoors and meeting with God seems to be evident throughout Scripture.

Jim and I love the beach or the mountains. Sometimes it might just be a free place provided to just get away from the familiar. Last year right before we resigned from our last ministry assignment, a ministry couple, friends from college, happened to come through to visit. After our sweet time, they offered their place at the beach for us to use anytime. God knew, but we didn’t, we would be in need of asking our friends, one month later, for their place.

When you think of a sabbath, how important do you think the location is for you? What spot might be meaningful, beautiful and/or free from unnecessary noise for you? (more…)