Isaiah 58: 13-14a
“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord…”
Hebrews 10: 24-25
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
A study from the 70s offered a theory that it takes 21 days to form a habit and just three days to lose a newly formed habit. A more recent study from 2009, published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, gives a different view, that it takes 18 to 254 days for a person to form a new habit. The study also concluded that, on average, it takes 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic.
The habit of attending church was formed in our family over 50 years ago, so it has been cemented into our weekly schedule. However, some Sundays, I just don’t have it in me to attend church. There, I said it. Even with decades of faithful attendance, some Sunday mornings, after the alarm goes off, I question if I can do it. Mind you, sickness or sleepless nights have occasionally prevented my going, but it’s not very often, and I know God does not condemn me for it. But what takes place on more Sunday mornings than I would care to admit, is a battle, a battle in my mind. So, after years of recognizing the evil one’s attempts to keep me from attending church, I pray for God to change my heart, arm myself with a strong cup of caffeine, and prepare for another day of honoring the Sabbath. And, I always come home with a heart of gratitude for having gone.
Do we need to “practice” observing the Sabbath—practice in becoming more intentional and more disciplined—yes we do! Each Sunday of the fifty years of being a Christian has offered me just that, more practice in the habit of being faithful in honoring the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day of rest from the six days of work for all who are weary and burdened. Jesus is calling us to lay down our weariness and burdens and to seek spiritual rest that can only be found in Him. We then put into practice—follow through with the habit—by setting aside of our Sundays.
The rewards for forming this practice are waiting for us each Sunday. Walking through the church doors, the Lord welcomes me with His Spirit shining through the smiling faces of the greeters, friends wrapping me with warm hugs, and others offering encouraging words. He meets me there through the worship music, His Word, and the teaching from the pulpit. My heart has been touched by an elderly gentleman standing behind me, who has severe dementia, enthusiastically singing “Amazing Grace” with the voice of an aged angel. The Lord has guided me in seeking out new folks to welcome and answer questions they might have. He has reminded me to look for a particular person who had a tough week and needed encouragement. He set up a chance encounter with a woman recently widowed—someone I had not met before—to share how much we appreciated her husband’s faith and diligent work in our home. God knew I needed to be there one Sunday to hear strong words of truth and wisdom that convicted me of an attitude change I needed to make towards someone.
Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, came to bring us freedom from “having to” and fills us with “wanting to,” including practicing the Sabbath. We are no longer bound by the legalism of the Law; we are set free to honor the Sabbath with the practices of worship, prayer, and fellowship. And then, when we come home, we can embrace the joy of continued rest, play, and family time that await us.
Lord of the Sabbath, we thank You for instituting one day in the week for rest, dedicated to honoring You and restoring our bodies and spirits to meet a new week. We ask that You would speak to our hearts about the importance, blessings, and rewards of corporate worship. Instill in us the commitment to form the habit of observing the Sabbath and practicing it faithfully. We do this to honor and glorify You, and we pray in Your Son’s name. Amen.
