Episode 368
Embracing the Sabbath and Prioritizing Rest
"God commands us to rest... Be intentional about not scheduling any kind of lunches or meetings because you need that day to rest and rejuvenate."- Wesleyne
Word of the Day:
"For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." - Exodus 20:11
This episode emphasizes the importance of rest, drawing from the biblical commandment to observe the Sabbath.
It highlights the necessity of taking a full day of rest each week, mirroring God's rest on the seventh day after creating the world.
The message encourages listeners to find a day that works for them to disconnect from their daily responsibilities and rejuvenate physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
It also addresses the challenges single parents face and those in ministry, offering practical advice on how to incorporate rest into their busy lives.
Takeaways
- Rest is essential for our well-being and is commanded by God.
- Choose a specific day each week to disconnect and rejuvenate.
- Look at your schedule, pray, and ask God to guide you to the right day for rest.
- Even those with busy lives and responsibilities need to prioritize rest.
- Embrace rest before your body forces you to take a break.
Chapters
- 00:00 Introduction to the Importance of Rest
- 00:58 Biblical Foundation for Rest: The Sabbath
- 02:04 Practical Ways to Observe a Day of Rest
- 04:15 Finding the Right Day for Your Sabbath
- 06:13 Encouragement for Single Parents and Busy Individuals
What did you take away from today's episode?
We'd love to hear from you!
Leave a review and share your thoughts.
Take a moment this week to find your day of rest and see how it rejuvenates your spirit and body.
If you need support or have prayer requests, send in your requests using the link below ⤵️
What questions are you struggling to answer? Wesleyne would love to answer these questions for you personally. Send any questions or prayer requests to hello@askwesleyne.com
Follow Wesleyne on Instagram @wesleynewhittaker
Transcript
When I ask people, how do you rest? How do you turn off your mind? How do you turn off your body? And just to be still, I get answers along the way of, well, I go to sleep at night or after I do all of these things, then I can relax. And I ask, how often do you do that? How often do you rest? Just be still.
be still and people may say well I get a few hours on the weekend or I haven't had a good day of rest in in months. God commands us to rest. Exodus 20 verses 11 says four and six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth the sea and all that is in them but he rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
God worked for six days and he rested on the seventh day. And there are many different religions and denominations out there. Some of them are very strict in having you observe the Sabbath when, and they have their Sabbath either on Saturday or on Sunday. I have a friend that is Jewish and
from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. They don't turn on the stove. They don't flip a light switch. They don't cook. They don't drive. They are very, very disciplined in observing their Sabbath. But today I compel to you that you can choose which day you want to take a full day of rest on.
Wesleyne (:The key is you must rest. For almost over a year, I've been taking a full day of rest each and every week. In order to do this, that means I have to get all of my chores, grocery shopping, laundry, running errands done the day before. And I have to be intentional about not scheduling any kind of
lunches or meetings or interacting with too many people because I need that day to rest in rejuvenate. I rest my body. I rest my mind. I rest my emotions. I rest my spirit. I allow myself to be filled by God's word. I allow myself to be filled by the Holy Spirit. I spend time with my kids and I am just still.
Being able to take time to rest is important for our body. There have been numerous research studies shown and when you see people who have lived past 100 years old and you ask them, well, what is your secret? What are you doing? It's not some bad diet pill or doing this activity or doing that. They know how to rest.
they take time off to rest. Whether it's their full day a week where they call their Sabbath.
whether they take a day off in the middle of the week and that is their Sabbath. Because for many people that actually work in ministry, they are unable to take a Saturday or to take a Sunday off as their day of rest because that is when they are needed the most. That is when they're preaching the word, they are having to do funerals or weddings. Like they are doing the things that they are being called to do.
Wesleyne (:And so their Sabbath, their day of rest that they take can be a Wednesday, it can be a Monday. So the lessons that we should learn from the people who have lived the longest, people that actively work in ministry is to find a day and just rest. Just be still. Look at your calendar, pray about it.
ask God to lead you to the right day, that you can truly disconnect from your phone, disconnect from work, disconnect from your responsibilities, and rest. And for those of you who may be like me, who you're a single parent, and you're having to do the work of more than one parent on a daily basis, and you say, I just, I can't do it.
I want you to pray about it. I want you to ask God to lead you to the day that he wants you to rest. I want you to ask God to teach you how to rest because those of us that don't actually know how to be still, we are always in the motion of going and going and doing and moving. So ask God to lead you and guide you. And...
Remember, there's nothing wrong with resting. There is nothing wrong with taking a day off. We need to do it before our body forces us to do it. Be blessed today.
