So the message of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The land finally enjoyed its Sabbath rest, lying desolate until the seventy years were fulfilled, just as the prophet had said. —2 Chronicles 36:21 NLT

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 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. —Hebrews 4:9-11

 

When Bonnie Joy was very young, she asked me, out of the blue, about the Sabbath. She wanted to know why we didn’t observe it and rest. Since that day, all those

many years ago, I have wrestled with what it means to enjoy the Sabbath. For me, as a Jewish believer, who is also a music minister, many Saturdays I “work.” Therefore I like to think about it as ministry—but it is also work. And in the last few years I have often told myself, Jesus said “It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:12) And if healing a man’s crippled hand is a good thing to do on the Sabbath, what about a broken heart—or broken soul? I believe the ministry that we do is a good thing. And yet… I often wonder what it means to truly remember the Sabbath and keep it holy?

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