The Day Of The Lord

From The Real Sabbath Devotional Series

Today I’m sharing devotion number two in the Real Sabbath Devotional Series: Blessed Rest. In this devotion, I share about the heart behind the Sabbath principle for us as Christian mothers under grace.

Here goes today’s devotion on this Blog and on the Podcast.

The Day of the Lord – S3 E2

Focus Verse

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. – Deuteronomy 5:12

Devotion

The Bible talks about the Sabbath as a day for the Lord. For us under God’s grace, I believe it means taking time to focus on God, in worship and in His word, instead of having our minds focused on to-do lists, and productivity. I believe actually that it’s what the heart and mind are focused that makes the difference. 

Let’s imagine that I decided to take a day off from all my work — even my housework — and pray, read and worship. But then let’s imagine I was constantly worrying about my tasks (the dreaded backlog!), or other issues in my life, instead of being focused on God. Would I really be resting the way God intended? Of course not.

Now let’s imagine that I took a day to read, pray and worship and within that day I also looked after my children, made a meal and did the dishes. Yet, in it all my heart was resting in the God who sustains me? Would I be resting despite my housework and childcare? Yes, of course. 

And so, yes, as Christian women we need to set aside time for the word and prayer, but taking the Sabbath is also about resting in the midst of our tasks, instead of doing these from a place of anxiety. It’s about resting in God. 

Questions for reflection

• Is resting in God is something you need to grow in?
• How can you let go of your anxieties and keep your mind focused on God?

Prayer

Lord, I pray for each mum listening to/reading this devotion, I pray that you would guide them, as to when to take focused time with You. Whether that’s a whole day on the weekend, or a whole day during the week, or even a morning or an afternoon on different days. I pray they would have that time of rest, of letting go of the to-do list, and the anxiety, and the worry. I pray that we would spend time with you, Lord, and that you would help us not let this become a legalistic list of things to do or not to do, but that our hearts would be in the right place. That it would be about You. And when we do things like housework and childcare, that we would do those things with a heart of rest, and trust in Your Sovereignty, Your Goodness, and Your Grace. That we would do all things to bring glory to You. Amen.