Daily Office - Discovering the Rhythm of Sabbath Pt. 9*

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

2) Scripture Reading—Psalm 23:1-3

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

            he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness

            for his name’s sake.

3) Devotional

The Sabbath teaches grace because it connects us experientially to the basic truth that nothing we do will earn God’s love. As long as we are using our gifts to serve others, experiencing joy in our work along with the toil, we are always in danger of believing that our actions trigger God’s love for us. Only in stopping, really stopping, do we teach our hearts and souls that we are both loved apart from what we do.

During a day of rest, we have the chance to take a deep breath and look at our lives. God is at work every minute of our days, yet we seldom notice. Noticing requires intentional stopping and the Sabbath provides that opportunity. On the Sabbath we can take a moment to see the beauty of a maple leaf, created with great care by our loving Creator . . .

Without time to stop, we cannot notice God’s hand in our lives, practice thankfulness, step outside our culture’s values or explore our deepest longing. Without time to rest, we will seriously undermine our ability to experience God’s unconditional love and acceptance. The Sabbath is a gift whose blessings cannot be found anywhere else.

--Lynne Baab

4) Question to Consider

            How will you allow God, this week to lead you to the “quiet waters” of rest so that you experience his unconditional love and acceptance?

5) Prayer

LORD, I now take a deep breath and stop. So often I miss your hand and gifts in my life because I am preoccupied and anxious. Grant me the power to pause each day and each week to simply rest in your arms of your love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

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

Daily Office - Discovering the Rhythm of Sabbath Pt. 8*

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

 2) Scripture Reading—Psalm 92:1-6
It is good to praise the LORD
And make music to your name, O Most High,
To proclaim your love in the morning
And your faithfulness at night,
To the music of the ten-stringed lyre
And the melody of the harp.
For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD;
I sing for joy at the works of your hands.
How great are your works, O LORD,
how profound your thoughts!
The senseless man does not know,
Fools do not understand . . .

3) Devotional
 Psalm 92 was a song intended to be sung on the Sabbath. It not only stands as an indictment against today’s culture of exhaustion and destruction, it also presents us with a positive vision of the Sabbath that takes us far beyond all notions of Sabbath observance as a mere reprieve from six days of frantic exertion. Sabbath practice is the focus and culmination of a life that is daily and practically devoted to honoring God . . .      

 Abraham Joshua Heschel once observed, “Unless one learns how to relish the taste of Sabbath while still in this world, unless one is initiated in the appreciation of eternal life, one will be unable to enjoy the taste of eternity in the world to come.”
 "We are simply naïve if we think that having wasted or squandered the many good gifts of this creation, we will not do the same with the gifts of heaven. Sabbath practice, on this view, is a sort of training ground for the life of eternity, a preparation for the full reception and welcome of the presence of God.  —Norman Wirzba

4) Question to Consider
How might Sabbath keeping (an entire 24-hour period) or a Daily Office (a mini-Sabbath for a few minutes) provide for you a taste of eternity?

5) Prayer
LORD, show me how to welcome your presence, not only one day a week, but every day. Train me for an eternity. Grant me a taste of heaven thorough an experience of true Sabbath rest. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

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