The Gift of Sabbath

NIV - Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Our days are filled with heavy toil

With pursuit of wealth and need

A hustle-bustle, headlong rush

From every waking until we sleep

Racing from the cradle to the grave

Time sliced up in years and months

Portioned out in weeks and days

Given up in hours and minutes

Seconds ticking to the final end

Ever faster in our passing lives

Seven are our days apportioned

Work and home and play and toil

You and me and them and we

Time divided, sliced… doled out

In years that stretch before us

Six days in work and help give purpose

Divine connection to a demanding God

But in the day of rest… that gift of Sabbath

In the stop and rest… the heart of quiet

We hear the heart of our loving God

The still small voice that tells us

“Come to me, all you who are weary

and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

The voice speaks to us in the stillness

When we stop and rest, embracing Sabbath

“By the seventh day God had finished 

[all] the work He had been doing; 

so on the seventh day He rested 

from all his work. And God blessed 

the seventh day and made it holy, 

because on it He rested 

from all the work of creating 

that He [for six days] had done.”

And in that seventh God showed to us

His divine grace and loving mercy

He gives us rest found in the stopping

And speaks to us in the stillness of silence

A still small voice comes in the heart of rest

A communion with Peace and Love

In Grace and Mercy from His breast

Genesis 2:2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Nehemiah 8:10 Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

More scripture that inspired this poem:

Matthew: 1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath." 3 He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread--which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." 9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" 11 He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." 13 Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

Luke 13:10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath." 15 The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?" 17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

Luke 14:1 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away. 5 Then he asked them, "If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?" 6 And they had nothing to say.

John 5:1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" 7 "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." 8 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." 11 But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.' " 12 So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?" 13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Life Through the Son

16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 

John 7:21 Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”

Hebrews4:9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, 

Inspiration was also found in: 24/6 A Prescription for a Healthier, Happier Life, By: Matthew Sleeth

by D. Denise Dianaty

Reviews

[Master K-tops]

This is a really poetic and inspirational piece. The choice of words and the metaphor definitely beatify this already-amazing poem. The theme is the stand-out here. The way we all work like machines and leave no time for God to minister to us is so disturbing.

Great poem.

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you.

I agree with your statement that we leave no time for God is disturbing. But, whatever you believe, we also leave no time for humanity in denying ourselves and others that time set apart to renew our hearts, minds, and souls.

[MAD ENGLISHMAN]

I love the message but it falls on many deaf ears.

[MomzillaNC]

True. It falls in the ears of corporate robber barons who force people into work weeks without time off. And the economy (and/or greed) force people to work to make money. And people demand services that leave no room for business to be closed, driving the impetus to be a 24/7 world. Very few companies have the courage NOT to be open one day a week; I cannot think of even one company that is closed two days a week.

Jewish Sabbath gave the world the concept and modern capitalism took it away.

[MAD ENGLISHMAN]

Over here almost all shops are open on Sundays. Most are restricted in hours but some stay open 24/7

[MomzillaNC]

They're not even restricted here most of the time. Some businesses even stay open for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

[Fran Marie]

A soothing and inspirational poem to read..very nice work here..

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you.

[TL Boehm]

I find it fascinating to consider that our Creator thought to set aside a day of rest for us. We certainly don't do it for ourselves in this culture. Its go go go - push push push - compete, kill, win. God speaks all the time but we hear best when we're quiet. Resist the tyranny of the urgent.
This one spoke to me on a spiritual level. I don't get that much here at the Cafe, but I really appreciated this reminder. Well done.

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. I hope my words were true to His message. The thing I find most amazing about Sabbath, is that, yes, our Creator gave us a day of rest. But he didn't give it just to us, the Believers. He specifically gave it to all creatures.

[L. C. Rhodes]

I like the notion of 'time sliced up'. Great poem

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you.

[Matching Socks]

That was incredibly inspiring and moving.m
Nicely done.

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you.

[hardeep sabharwal]

an interesting and wise write here, thanks for sharing

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you very much.

[Malister Mikey]

Such an interesting piece, I am happy to learn new information of different creeds.

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you.

[R Smith]

sad to say the day of rest has passed away, when i was a child you could sit on your step and not hear a sound, no voices, no cars, no work of any kind and i lived in London then! A remarkable poem and a journey through creation to this day now, gigantic writing bravo :)

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. And, I think we have to actively choose to observe a Sabbath. I don't think it needs to be a specific day -- like Sunday. But, I think we all need to choose a day when we and our immediate family shut off the noisy tech and sit out the bustle of life to just stop. That's what Sabbath is: it's a stop day. We need that stop and rest day to renew ourselves and to connect with each other and with the Divine.

[R Smith]

that would indeed be a bonus to all of us, a just relax, meditate and dwell on God, sounds good :)

[MomzillaNC]

That's really all Sabbath is.

[Sectando]

I really enjoyed the message, particularly in the beginning. I agree with Rene and feel like this poem speaks to a lot of people today regardless of religious views. As far as my own personal preference in reading I'm very critical of flow and rhyme. I noticed that some words were used in what seemed to me, redundant as in the following verse:

Six days in work and help give purpose
Divine connection to a demanding God
But in the day of rest… that gift of Sabbath
In the stop and rest… the heart of quiet
We hear the heart of our loving God

However I am the first to admit I am very selective and partial to a specific type of poetry and I feel that could be a fault of mine. My intention is never to discourage so I try to point this out in my reviews. I also noticed that I write shorter poems and I think it may be that I am so critical of the flow in conjunction to what I'm saying, that I will either re-word something or make it shorter to give the same impact without sacrificing the poems "grace".

With that said, I feel like the first half was appealing to me while the second half may have been (in the opinion pertaining to my style) a little cluttered but I think that combining the message with biblical reference to the sabbath is a very warming and intimate approach. I did enjoy this read for its intended purposes and I hope that my ocd when it comes to verse shall not offend or discourage because it is my personal preference, as is with all forms of art to the creator. Thank you for the read request :)

[MomzillaNC]

Thank you. Appreciate your point of view. However, this poem is more about embracing and promoting the observance of Sabbath and what that means and does for me, rather than the poetic style. I do see the validity in your critique, though. Thank you, again.