Sabbath, again!

I read this morning about the second set of tablets which Moses had to chisel out and drag to the top of the mountain for God to write on. Obviously, God could have just handed Moses a Kindle, or iPad with the whole law spelled out, but where would Moses have plugged it in to charge? OK - sorry. But God could have so easily provided Moses with the tablets all complete and ready to go. He didn't. He instructed Moses to chisel them from stone and bring them up to their meeting on top of the mount, think of that next time somebody near you says, "quick, have you got a pencil and a sheet of paper?"

God often does that - asks us to take part in the miracle He is about to perform in our lives. I can't tell you how many times I have spent time wondering why God didn't just do this or that, but I was just talking to myself or anyone nearby who would listen. But not until I made it a prayer - and spent some time and effort in communicating with God about it - did the answer come. God waited for me to become part of that answer before he released the answer to my life.

"God helps those who help themselves" is not actually in the Bible. Even if there was something close to it, it would most likely read, "God helps those who participate in the work He is doing." I have had the great joy of homeschooling my two kids, and one of the most rewarding things to happen - over and over - was when one of them would come to me with a question about some part of their work. The truly amazing part was how often they would come to me with something I was not familiar with. In other words, I didn't have a clue how to 'solve for x' or 'diagram this sentence' or 'define the comparison of valence shells in atoms heavier than carbon...' OK - bad examples, I can do those things. I'm not totally ignorant, but you get the idea.

I would let them ask me their question, and then I would pose a few questions back to them, and they would read the question again, look back at the book, and in a matter of seconds I would see it. The light. It started in their eyes and radiated to their face, and then their whole countenance would change and their face would lift - they figured out the answer on their own. I don't know if it was verbalizing it, or looking at it another time, or if it was just their brain finally engaging. But of course, I always claimed the credit. Hey, I'm good, but I'm not God...

But back to Sabbath. If you have spent any time reading the parts of the Bible dealing with the law, you have seen how many time the idea of Sabbath comes up. God is big on this idea. And I simply wanted to say one thing about it - yes, I know that 'simple' is a relative term, and that I can take two pages telling you what time it is... but back to Sabbath -

Why is it that we seem to reject this idea? It is fundamental to so much of our life. Rest. But more than that - the Israelites were not to light a fire, do work, transact business or barter, etc. etc. They were very limited. What was left? Basically sitting around. With each other. WITH each other.

I can't tell you how many Sabbaths I have spent alone - my family was off playing, shopping, sitting in front of a computer in their room, working, doing things with people on line in some other part of the world, but NOT connecting with the family right at their elbow. I'm sorry for that. I repent. I think so often when we look at things God tells us to do, we see it as a list of good things we must give up. But can you even imagine the improvement our society would enjoy if families all over the world began to spend time together? One full day each week would just about do it. Imagine that.

I can so clearly remember Doctor James Dobson telling his audience that the average time spent together by an American father and an American teen was about three minutes - per week. So I vowed to try to spend three minutes a day, and beat the national average by seven times. Then I pushed it farther, and guess what? My kids and I became friends. And I think they have turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. The key was that I had to have times of communication in which I was not simply correcting or dealing with a problem. We had to have times when we communicated joy, fun, laughter, things they cared about, things they had experienced - LIFE!

So Sabbath. Take a day to rest each week. But not alone. Use this time as I think God intended it: together with those you love. Too late for you? Kids gone? Marriage over, family far away, sitting alone? Then find some part of the family of God, alone or in a family, and let's connect. Toss the TV - start watching people. Sabbath is not about recharging the batteries, or sleeping all day. Well, those things may very well be part of it, let's not get crazy! But I see a new way of looking at this- God has just given us another part of recipe for growing together. And in a strong body, He can more easily do amazing things. Isolate? That is just one way to limit God's ability/willingness to work in my life.

OK God - bring it.