I have been thinking a lot lately about one of the 10 Commandments:
Exodus 20:8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."
"Sabbath" comes from the Hebrew word shabbat - which basically means "to cease". I don't know about you - but there are often a lot of things I need to "cease" from.
cease from hurrying
cease from worrying
cease from busyness
cease from ______
God commanded us to "cease". We have a built in spiritual hunger that drives us to "fill up" with God - to commune with Him. But all of those things - busyness - worrying - hurrying - all of those things can mask that spiritual hunger and cause us to try and "fill up" with a lot of pointless things.
We have to slow down. We have to learn to be still. And with all of the ways we are connected in the world - Facebook, texting, cell phones, twitter - the list goes on and on...well, we are all in danger of forgetting how to do that.
Now - I actually don't think we need to take a 24 hour period and do absolutely nothing in order to plug in with God. What we need to do is be willing to be still. Be willing to "cease" for more than just a moment.
Around here - it is a gorgeous day and I stepped out onto our back porch for a moment to take a phone call. When the call ended, my instinct was to head back inside and get back to work. But I felt that still, small voice of the Holy Spirit drawing me to linger there.
Are you willing to linger in silence and stillness - even for a short time?
Here's a challenge - disconnect.
Start with an hour. For an hour - don't text or check your cell phone. Don't pop onto Facebook or check your favorite sites. Don't watch TV. Just be.
Stillness can actually be quite addictive - in a good way. The more you get comfortable with being still, and having your heart open to hearing God, well, the more you want to do it. The more you will begin to crave "ceasing" from all of those other things in order to get close to the One who can truly fill us up.
Blessings to you,
Sarah
1 comment:
Love this!
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