ON THE SABBATH, WE REST
John Mark Comer & Practicing the Way
We all live with chronically unsatisfied desires. No matter how much we seem to get, it never feels like enough.
The Bible calls this inner disquiet“ restlessness.”
And one of the ways we fight against this restless ache in our hearts is through Sabbath.
In the Exodus story, before the command to sabbath is given, we read all sorts of language that shows the restlessness the Hebrews carried and came from in Egypt.
“ Why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!”
“ You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.”
“ Lazy! That’ s what you are! Lazy! That’ s why you whine,‘ Let us go so we can worship God.’”
Pharaoh was a cruel tyrant. No matter how hard the Hebrews worked, it was never enough. They lived under the oppressive yoke of the daily quota— more, more, more.
God’ s command to“ remember the Sabbath” is to remind the Israelites they are no longer slaves— they’ re in a new kingdom, ruled by a different King. There’ s no daily quota anymore. No taskmaster pressing in from above.
So Sabbath isn’ t just about a rhythm; it’ s about resistance.
And we need this kind of resistance in the modern West, where we work more than ever before, have more than ever before, and still remain unhappy.
It’ s Egypt all over again.
But it doesn’ t have to be this way. On the Sabbath, we rest from work.
On the Sabbath, we rest from even thinking about work.
On the Sabbath, we rest from wanting and worrying.
28