Sabbath

"Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him."  - Psalm 62:1

As I read this short verse, I started contemplating the phrase, “my soul finds rest in God.”  Admittedly, after having a number of extraordinarily busy weeks, I’ve slowed down a bit this week.  There have been no meetings (yeah), and no funerals (I have done an extraordinary number of funerals in my six years here).  My message is ready for Sunday and I’ve had time to have some good fellowship with staff and a friend or two.

Friday (today) is usually my Sabbath – my day of rest.  Sunday is not.  Ever. For me. Today we plan to go on a bus trip with other members of my congregation up into the mountains (hills for my western friends) and enjoy the fall colors which are indeed peaking right now.  Included are stops at the Flight 93 (9/11) memorial (about two hours from where I live) and then at the Quecreek Mine rescue memorial, an event that happened ten years ago, and is celebrated around this area.  Coal mining is a rich part of the history in this neck of the woods, though most of that mining has moved elsewhere.  Then a leisurely meal with our bus mates. 

For me, this sounds like a wonderful Sabbath; a time of finding rest in God, with some of God’s people.  Fun.  I will reflect on the beauty of God’s creation, and it will be ample. I will relive and perhaps wonder again at the bravery of folks on that fateful flight 11 years ago, and learn new respect for those who work so hard at dangerous professions – and try to see God in all of it.  As I’ve heard Sabbath described – it is a day of delight.

So I would ask – how do you spend your Sabbath – do you even take one?  I say this because Pastors are the worst Sabbath breakers on God’s green earth.  Are you spending some time resting in God (the source of your salvation)?  Not just resting – although that is an important aspect of Sabbath – but is God in your rest?  Are you delighting in him on your Sabbath?

Let me encourage you – and myself…to find time for Sabbath.  And may your soul find rest in God. 

 Quecreek video