“It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must practice self-denial; it is a permanent statute.” (v. 31)

Funny thing about the Sabbath:

The Bible’s instruction for rest—on a day that is set apart for the Lord and His things—remains perfectly clear. We work out of our worship, and the rest of our week flows from the rest in our week. So we honor the Sabbath, a Lord’s Day, which He has given by grace.

What we miss, however, is the instruction for self-denial.

We retranslate rest as leisure. We think, so long as we don’t give it all over for work—so long as we worship, and then play—we’re hitting the Sabbath mark.

Yet God’s instruction is this: You must practice self-denial.

What does a self-denial Sabbath look like?

It looks like worshipping, even when it’s hard to get the kids out the door, and even when all the other Sunday opportunities lure you.

It looks like intentionally choosing not doing, not dashing, not driving to the fun you’re afraid of missing.

It looks like saying “no” on Sunday to things that get your “yes” on Saturday.

Will we get it all the way right? Probably not. But the instruction is for our good.

Maybe a little more self-denial belongs on our Sunday schedules.

— Tyler