Sabbath is a person

Editor’s note: The following excerpt is being published with permission from Mark Dance’s latest book, Rest Well, Lead Well.

The Bible’s conversation about Sabbath began in creation (Genesis 2), which was ultimately fulfilled in the Lord of the Sabbath Himself—Jesus Christ. All Christians can rest in His peace because they have found eternal rest for their souls through the love of Jesus Christ.

Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10, CSB).

The bottom line is that we can rest in our salvation today and forever because Jesus did all the heavy lifting on the cross. He promised to carry the weight of our worry and our sin every step of the way because He promised, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30, CSB).

Pastors believe and teach about the soul-saving, soul-quenching presence of God, but sometimes we struggle with enjoying it ourselves. He is still offering to personally rehydrate us with His living water in our daily Sabbaths (aka: quiet times), as well as our weekly sabbaths in corporate worship with our faith families.

To enjoy the peace and presence of God, we will need to consistently stop and rest.

In my awkward attempt to cry out to the Lord during my ministry meltdown 15 years ago, I reluctantly placed my church back into the capable hands of her true leader. Jesus’s yoke of grace not only lightened my load, but Jesus altogether carried it when I let Him. Today, He will likewise give you rest when you cease striving and rest in Him.

Pastor Pete Scazzero describes sabbath as “stopping to surrender to God in trust. I give up control and trust God to run His world without me.”

The word “soul” is sometimes translated “life” or even “breath.” Neglecting your soul won’t cause you to lose your salvation (nothing can), but it will cause you to lose the joy of your salvation. There are occasions when a soul bound for heaven feels like it’s living in hell. Too many Christians live this way indefinitely and do not know what to do about it.

King David was very familiar with the pressures of leadership and occasionally even walked through the dark hallway of depression. His most beloved psalm shows us how to get back to where we need to be spiritually:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me besides the still waters. He restores my soul. (Psalm 23:1–3, NKJV, emphasis added)

Only God could “make” a terminally driven warrior-king like David “lie down.” For that matter, only the Lord could “restore” his soul. Like David, I am a shepherd who needs to be shepherded and a leader who needs to be led. The Lord is my Shepherd, and he restores my soul every time I “stop” to let him.