Learning To Honor The Sabbath

Often in the past, Sabbath became a day to finish preparing for my week, complete household chores, and scurry around getting ready to host Community Group. 

I knew in my heart that I wasn’t pursuing faithfulness to keep the Sabbath, but deep down, I didn’t really trust God with the purpose, process, or outcome of what seems like an otherworldly idea: a day of total rest and worship. 

If Christian life is a continual growth of faith and trust in God, then we should expect to always be relinquishing our ways, and learning to follow His as His spirit transforms us. 
This is one of those areas in my life where He’s stretching me, and showing me HIS GOODNESS as I trust and obey. 

But it takes intentionality to prepare for a day of total rest and worship. I rarely do all of these things, but each one is extremely helpful to fulfilling my desire to keep the Sabbath. This is not legalism; it’s a belief that God is good and trustworthy and that FOLLOWING HIM BRINGS BLESSING. I hope these tips inspire you, and I’d love to know what else helps YOU guard the Sabbath?

Some Ideas for guarding the Sabbath as a day of rest:

Practical:
*Paper plates and bowls in the cabinet, ready for guilt-free consumption
*house prepared/tidied/cleaned Saturday
*Sunday lunch worked out on Saturday
*Sunday dinner Easy and special (apples and popcorn for us)

Spiritual: 
*Minimal to no media, or social media.
*A stack of special devotional books that I save for Sundays 
*Prioritize People, not tasks or things.