Remembering the Sabbath

By Tyler Tankersley

I grew up in church and had to learn to memorize the Ten Commandments to win a prize in Sunday school. I never gave much thought to actually applying them to my life, but I suppose they sneaked their way in my head. However, it was the fourth commandment that always has perplexed me the most. When I asked my Sunday school teacher what it means to "remember the Sabbath day," I received an answer akin to, "Make sure you always go to church." That answer never satisfied me. I did not think there were any Baptist churches at the time the Book of Exodus was written.

What does it mean to "remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8)? As I have gotten older, I have realized the Sabbath is more than a day on a weekly calendar; it's a spiritual practice. Sabbath is the intentional cessation of work and the active engagement of rest and joy. Adulthood also has helped me come to the realization that in our society, the commandment pertaining to the Sabbath is the most violated of all the Ten Commandments.

We live in a culture addicted to multitasking, working late hours and Saturdays, checking our emails on our phones and making ourselves anxious by how busy we allow ourselves to be. We perceive our harried schedule to be a badge of honor that inflates our importance. Our culture tells us in order to achieve happiness we have to drive a certain kind of car, live in a certain kind of house, and commercials convince us we are "less than" unless we have a certain kind of product. But we all know this to be a falsehood: Our car does not give us longevity, our house does not guarantee security and we know popping open a Coca-Cola does not transport us to a beach party.

Perhaps in the midst of a culture obsessed with achieving, accomplishing, consuming and possessing, it is the Sabbath that works as a healing balm to our overworked souls and anxious spirits. Maybe the world will not end if we close our laptops to be more intentional with our family. Maybe our job will still be there if we leave the emails until the morning. Maybe everything will still be OK if we turn off notifications on our phone for a few hours.

But remembering the Sabbath is about more than the cessation of activity; it's also about the engagement of joyful rest. The Sabbath is an invitation to enter God's goodness and delight. In the midst of our anxious world, it is the Sabbath that can help us to recalculate our priorities and remind us of those few, precious glimpses of grace that will bring us real fulfillment and real joy.

So, as you plan your weeks and days: Leave some space for rest, say "no" to some things, build time for family into your Google calendar, turn off your phone notifications and practice being truly present with yourself, your family and with God. It is, after all, a commandment.