Have you ever finished a sentence on a Friday with the phrase, “Happy Sabbath!” when you were talking with a fellow Adventist? I know I have. I have written many texts with the same phrase. And I have sometimes wondered exactly what people believe gives them a “Happy Sabbath.”
Since I am being honest with you, I will tell you that as a young person in the elementary school years, my Sabbath joy increased the closer the sun was to setting. After the sun went down and after our family worship, I could then engage with friends in games and such. Later, while in high school at a boarding academy, I learned to love Sabbath because it saved me from having to worry about all my studies.
In my spiritual journey, as I have gotten older, the Sabbath’s true blessing and meaning have come to fill my heart. Now I am not a clock watcher, but rather just enjoy this day in which I don’t have to worry about how to put food on the table or to make “the boss” happy. It is a day off work which the Lord knew we needed because He created us this way. From the beginning, the Sabbath was given to us by our creator and redeemer so we could hit the reset button in our lives to recalibrate our priorities and feed our souls with the love of Christ.
If there is one area where I believe the devil works the hardest in our lives, it is to bring confusion over what’s most important to us. He loves it when we fill our time doing good things while, somehow, we completely bypass the most important part of our lives…a living, joyous walk with the Lord. The Sabbath helps us remember where we came from and how our Savior has led us.
Never compromise
While he was in college my eldest son, Ryan, completed a summer internship in the legal department at AdventHealth in Orlando, Florida. I will never forget what Ryan told me when the summer was over and he had his exit interview with Jeff Bromme, chief legal counsel for the AdventHealth system. Jeff had told my son, “Whatever you do, when you head off to law school, don’t ever compromise on studying on the Sabbath, or your friends will haunt you from then on to study with them on the Sabbath.” It truly touched my heart that this was the kind of counsel my son received from a very successful Adventist lawyer. Ryan heeded this counsel and it blessed him greatly!
We all know the verse in the book of Mark that states, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:1). In other words, the Sabbath is truly a gift God gave to us. We should never waste one, but rather be involved in activities that bring joy and meaning into a person’s life who needs our encouragement, or in fellowship with the saints and together worship our God and creator, or in taking time to enjoy God’s second book, nature, and ponder the glory and majesty of our God.
So “Happy Sabbath” everyone! May your journeys through the seventh day of the week always be filled with the very best stuff life has to offer us!
