The Sabbath | Kyle McMurray Coaching, LLC

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Ep 88

I was setting up a new calendar for our Practice and in the settings it asked me if I wanted Sunday or Monday to be the first day of the week. Out of habit, we usually set our calendars up by starting on Sunday, but we usually wrap up Sunday in our mind, with the weekend. It’s bundled up in the same lot. Or at least I have. Just using the word “weekend” suggests that Sunday is the LAST day of the week and not the first. It’s kind of confusing. And who is the author of confusion? Hmmmmmm.

You see, the Sabbath made it in the top 10 list. You know, the 10 commandments. They are in Exodus 20 and again in Deut 5. So, it must be pretty important. Ya think?

Then, it dawned on me, even before that, Adam’s first day, was Sabbath. Okay, so now I know it HAS to be important. The order was already established at the beginning for Adam. It was rest…then work. He didn’t “hit the ground running” like we’re supposed to do in the workplace.

It’s like he was born into grace. It was his inherited rhythm of life. This is just how things are, how they work, this is how it goes. Be with God THEN go do with God. That’s it. Right at the beginning, God was saying “This is how we’re gonna roll.”

Truth is we are living monuments of what God has done and is doing. In every way, we were made for Sabbath. We need it to understand truth, we need it to assimilate, we need it in order to catch up–to process the days between Sabbaths.

Here is the most important part of what is commonly believed about the Sabbath. It’s not a do nothing day… it’s a catch up to life day. I’m not talking about going to the grocery store or catching up on emails, yardwork, or even social media. It is reserved to give us an opportunity to catch up to our source of life. And plug into that.

Maybe you’ve heard that the Sabbath is designed to “charge our batteries” so that we can go out there and live life.

If you want to put another metaphor to it, The Sabbath is designed to keep our antennas connected that detect His guidance to live life. I can’t use a wireless microphone antenna for television signal. It’s not designed for that. But we DO have a specific antenna He’s given us for His Kingdom and He’s given us the power to Live the Freedom Life, we just have to “plug into it”. To make sure it’s connected. How many of you understand that you can have an antenna, but if it’s not connected to the receiver, it’s just trash on your roof. Or as Paul put it, “a clanging cymbal”.

Throughout history, people have missed the point of Sabbath, most tried to keep the Sabbath commandment without even practicing the Sabbath. They’ve missed the whole concept of why it’s there.

You may have heard these things before, and I have too, but I want to learn more. I believe there’s something major that we’re missing when we forget to live in the rhythm like Adam.

In music we talk a lot about playing in the groove. Getting in the pocket. I want to do just that and celebrate it–practice it, the way God leads.

Sabbath is the celebration of a covenant between God and mankind from generation to generation. It’s all about getting to know the God who is the Lord of life. It’s so we will not forget.

It is a day to prepare for the week ahead…It’s the first day of the week and we are to give it to HIM. It is a tithe of something more precious than money, our time. We may get into that for another episode.

Have you ever approached a big job and it took more than you to accomplish it? What was your approach? Did you get others involved? Of course you did. That’s a common sense model of teamwork in the workplace. You schedule meetings to gather together and strategise, it gives opportunity for leadership, direction, vision casting and clear communication. That process is important. It’s the life blood of success. If some form of this model isn’t followed, missing the mark or some flavor of failure is on it’s way. The business world has a pretty good grasp of the same concept as what is intended for Sabbath.

People that go through life just “winging it”, are in truth, unpredictable and dangerous. Now, there is a balance in that. Sometimes you have to wing it. But God has provided you the power, the permission, and the authority to go take dominion. Don’t waste those provisions and not listen to the Captain of your ship.

God is God and we are not; but, God and I do fit together. We share the same blood, the same breath, and the same Spirit. I need a regular time to let that sink in. I need a day to assimilate all that God has put in my path during the week. I need time to recoup, think and rethink, muse and wonder, and appreciate it all. It’s my weekly revival.

Job 42:5 “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.” I need a day with God in the room, regardless of the turn of events…I want to see His face with my own eyes. My antenna needs His signal.

Ps 78:2-4 “I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.” Sabbath is for storytelling–a day to TELL what God has done and is doing–to share a meal, take a drive or a walk, a time thank Him for living in the middle of the breath of life.

Rev.12:10-11 “For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth–the one who accuses them before our God day and night. And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.” Sabbath is life in the middle of death… it makes me think Kingdom things.

Keeping the Sabbath and keeping it holy, is not about the rules, it’s all about focus. I still begin with coffee, but the rest is up to God…the intent is to eat and drink and love and live, assimilating ‘God things.’ It’s a set-aside day, a holy day–my day to be like Adam on the first day.

Living the Freedom Life, This is Kyle