Daily Office - Discovering the Rhythm of Sabbath Pt. 7*

1) Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes) 

2) Scripture Reading—Mark 2:23-28

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

            He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?” In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

            Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is LORD even of the Sabbath.”

3) Devotional

Sabbath is not dependent upon our readiness to stop. We do not stop when we are finished. We do not stop when we complete our phone calls, finish our project, get through this stack of messages, or get out this report that is due tomorrow. We stop because it is time to stop. 

Sabbath requires surrender. If we only stop when we are finished with all our work, we will never stop—because our work is never completely done. With every accomplishment there arises a new responsibility. If we refuse rest until we are finished, we will never rest until we die. Sabbath dissolves the artificial urgency of our days, because it liberates us from the need to be finished.

We stop because there are forces larger than we that take care of the universe, and while our efforts are important, necessary, and useful, they are not (nor are we) indispensable. The galaxy will somehow manage without us for this hour, this day, and so we are invited—nay, commanded—to relax, and enjoy our relative unimportance, our humble place at the table in a very large world.

Do not be anxious about tomorrow, Jesus said again and again. Let the work of this day be sufficient.

Sabbath says, be still. Stop. There is no rush to get to the end, because we are never finished.⁶³

—Wayne Mueller

4) Question to Consider

What is your greatest fear in stopping for a 24-hour period each week?

5) Prayer

This idea of Sabbath, LORD, will require a lot of change in the way I am living life. Teach me LORD, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus’ name, amen 

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes) 


*From "Begin the Journey with the Daily Office" by Pete Scazzero