Grow, Pray & Study Guide: Sabbath

Our hope at River City is that you grow daily in your walk with God! One way to do that is to spend time with God every day. This Grow, Pray and Study Guide (GPS) is just one easy way to connect with God on a daily basis.

 

Sabbath

We live in a fast pace society that demands that we go, go, go all of the time. Someone always needs something and the job never seems completed. Even if it is, we have another one waiting in line. Staying busy is not necessarily a bad thing, but its definitely not automatically a good thing. Sunday, we discussed Sabbath and how keeping it holy keeps us holy (click here to listen). Since we talked about it, how about we put it into practice!

Monday: Read Exodus 20:8-11

This verse challenges us to do a few things:

  1. Keep the Sabbath
  2. Keep it Holy
  3. Help other people keep the Sabbath

It even points out that God even made it a priority to keep the Sabbath. So should we, but we get so busy. We come up with excuses of things we must get done. Re-read Exodus 20:8-11 and answer the questions below.

  1. Do you keep a consistent Sabbath Day? What temptations do you have to resist from overworking yourself and not taking a day of rest?
  2. For you what does it mean to keep the Sabbath day holy? If you have trouble thinking about this ask yourself “What helps me connect with God?” Could adding that to your Sabbath day help?
  3. This verse is not just about you. It’s about those you influence. Your family, coworkers, employees, etc. Sometimes our actions or inactions add stress to people’s weeks that hurt their chance of taking Sabbath. Is there something you do intentionally or unintentionally that might be throwing someone else’s week off hurting their chance for Sabbath?

 

Tuesday: No more heroes—Numbers 11:1-17

Sounds funny since we’ve talked about Everyday Heroes for three weeks. An everyday hero does small things with great love on a consistent basis for a long period of time. They don’t burn themselves out in spurts of greatness just to crash and burn. In our passage today Moses had hit the wall and was fed up with the people he was leading. He was pretty much over the cause and goal he was pursuing. He couldn’t be the hero anymore. Neither can you. Solo heroic leaders always crash and burn. Those that care for themselves by consistent rest and consistent work make it for the long haul. They also surround themselves with other leaders who carry the load and sharpen their skills along the way.

On a scale of 1 to 5…one being exhausted and five being rejuvenated. Where are you? In Numbers 11 Moses was a one. How are you doing at resting? Taking a day off? Sleeping? Being present when you are at home? Could your amount of rest have something to do with 1 to 5? How about the people you surround yourself with…do you have a close group with which you can confide? Caring for yourself through rest and support is essential to finishing the race. How can you improve in one or both of those areas.

 

Wednesday: Lets put it into practice

What is something you do that brings you energy? Exercise, hiking, walking, getting away? Take out your schedule and find a day in the next month that you can get away. It could be for a full day or just for a few hours. Put this in your calendar as your and God’s day. Do something you enjoy doing because God designed you and loves it when you have fun. Take your Bible with you and find some time that day to read, pray and listen to God. Most importantly…enjoy.

 

Thursday

Louisville is blessed to have many Catholic Churches. One of these churches is Epiphany in Anchorage and this church has a Prayer Labyrinth. Sometime this month take some Sabbath time to head over to Epiphany or Louisville Presbyterian Seminary and walk the Prayer Labyrinth. While walking the Labyrinth we focus on three stages. The beginning focuses on letting go of the past and present and focusing on your time with Christ. It can deal with forgiveness, repentance, anxiety, worry or anything else that is on your mind. As you work your way to the center of the Labyrinth tradition invites us to focus on “being in Christ.” Finding peace in our relationship with God and who we are as a child of God. As we work our way out of the Labyrinth we are invited to think about the world we are entering. Where is God calling us? What is God wanting in our lives? What next steps do we need to take?

You probably won’t have time to do the Labyrinth today, but take some time to work through the questions that the beginning, middle and end ask us to work through.

 

Friday: Matthews 12:1-14

Sabbath is a gift but as religious people we tend turn God’s gifts into burdens. The Pharisees did this with rules and regulations and God’s gift of rest became a way to punish and burden people. The Pharisees turned a blessing into a curse. We must be careful that we don’t do the same. The point of Sabbath is connection. God longs to connect with us in a real way and God also wants us to live healthy and balanced lives. God becomes very scared when we burn the candle at both ends because God designed us for the long haul. A marathon instead of a sprint.

Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Jesus allowed his disciples to care for themselves on the Sabbath. In essence the disciples did do a little work on the Sabbath Day. They did what was necessary and people were healed and their sins were forgiven. God asks us to set aside a day and keep it holy. I also think it helps to set aside time every day to keep it holy. Do you have a daily time with God? Morning, afternoon or evening? If not, could I challenge you to make the time? Time to pray. Time to read some scripture. Time to sit in God’s presence. If you pray, read a Psalm and Proverb (there are 31 Proverbs…convenient) and sit and listen to God; these three acts will take you 15 to 20 minutes. I promise you it will become the best part of your day.