Sabbath & Grace

Note: this is one of a few archived blog posts I carried over from my old site just for fun and to preserve some “history.” It may or may not reflect current thoughts or feelings. This post is from September 2011.

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about two subjects: Sabbath and grace.

Many think that observing the Sabbath goes against God’s grace because it sounds legalistic, as if we’re earning God’s favor. But in reality, the exact opposite is true. The Sabbath teaches us grace, because through it—through resting from work, from striving, from serving—we realize that nothing we do will earn God’s love.

When we never stop to rest, we are in danger of thinking our actions trigger God’s love for us. But when we stop and slow down, we take the time to realize we are greatly loved by God apart from what we do.

"We are greatly loved by God apart from what we do"

In her book Sabbath Keeping, Lynne Baab discusses grace and says:

“Our worth comes from being loved by God, not from what we do . . . We slide into legalism when we move toward the belief that we will be saved by what we do, when we think a particular behavior will earn God’s approval. Grace teaches that there is nothing we can do to make God love us any more than he already does. Yet we humans are constantly tempted to believe God will like us more if we do certain things.”

Sabbath is not just a day off, it’s a way of life. To rest, to Sabbath, to stop, so that we can identify and receive the daily graces God gives to us.