A Christian doesn’t become a “couch potato” by resting and observing the Sabbath, said Ken Mathews, professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School (BDS) at Samford University in Birmingham. In fact, that’s not at all how Scripture defines entering into a spiritual rest.
“There’s a misconception that the Sabbath means you sit on your hands all day and there’s no activity,” Mathews said. When the Israelites observed the Sabbath, they worshiped God, which included “key ingredients” like prayer, sacrifice, praise, being in community and sharing a communal meal, he added.
But in order to have a biblical understanding of rest, one should start at Genesis 1 — the account of creation, said Gisela Kreglinger, assistant professor of theology at BDS.
“It’s quite fascinating that in the Bible when we read about the creation account, ‘For when God created the world,’ … that God also created time,” Kreglinger said. “We have a pattern of six days of work and then resting on the seventh day. He rests from His work and enjoys it.”
And as God did, so He commanded us, she said. And by obeying, “we are entering into God’s rest and He is inviting us to rest with Him on the Sabbath. I think it’s important to note that God began that rhythm (of time) with rest.”
The first mention of the Sabbath is not found, however, until the giving of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:8–11 and Deuteronomy 5:12–15. In the Exodus account, the Sabbath is tied to creation (v. 11), and in the Deuteronomy account, it is tied to the Exodus from Egypt (v. 15), Mathews noted.
“The reason for the Sabbath observance was tied first to God as Creator in that on the seventh day, He consecrated (it) and made it holy,” he said. “When we come together in worship, we are worshiping Him as our Creator and acknowledging He is sovereign Lord of all.
“In Deuteronomy 5, it’s not tied to creation but redemption where it says the Sabbath was observed because God rescued His people from … bondage,” Mathews said. “[There is] a connection between God as Creator and God as Redeemer.”
Understood from the biblical point of view, if one wants to find true, soul-satisfying rest, then he or she will find it only in God, Mathews said.
“Even though we may be resting from our activities in worship or in recreation, ultimately we will only have a satisfying rest when we place our faith and trust in God,” he said.
The New Testament takes this concept further and teaches that finding rest in God means first placing one’s faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.
“[Rest] is a spiritual reality in which a believer rests in confidence in what God has done in salvation,” said Dale Younce, professor of Christian studies at the University of Mobile.
And resting helps develop a receptivity to God’s grace, Kreglinger added.
“I think the most important thing about the God we worship is that He loved us so much that He sent His Son into the world to live, suffer and die for us so that we could be reconciled to the Father through grace,” she said. “If you can never rest and stop, you can never develop a receptivity to grace.”
But oftentimes American Christians are pulled into the drivenness of their culture and they do not know how to rest, Kreglinger noted.
“On the one hand, I see this incredible dedication to God, but at the same time, in a paradoxical type of way, I see this incredible strive to make it happen,” she said. “When that swaps over into Christian spirituality, it stands in contention with (the fact) that our salvation and sanctification is a gift of grace and our primary response is to be receptive and to work with God in what He is doing in our community.”
Just like for Israel, observing the Sabbath and resting for Christians means going to church and worshiping God, Mathews said.
“We as Christians, if we are to enter into a fuller meaning of rest, should be fellowshipping with believers and attached to and identified with a body of believers,” he said. “You go to church and be affiliated and study God’s Word and hear its reading and proclaiming.”
And as believers worship with others weekly, they also should worship daily, Younce said.
“[Resting] is a time each day that the believer spends time reading the Scripture, praying, committing his day to the Lord,” he said.
Other suggestions for entering into a biblical rest are taking a walk and admiring God’s creation, sharing a simple meal with other believers on Sunday or taking a hike with other believers and sharing a devotion, Kreglinger said.
As for her, she looks forward to Sundays when she does nothing but rest.
“I want to collapse into the arms of God,” Kreglinger said. “On Sunday, I’m reminded that the most important things in this world are not what I have done but what God does and continues to do.”
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