Hey PPN Family,

I recently read a book entitled “Practicing the Way” by John Mark Comer and in it he discusses nine practises of Jesus that helped Him to maintain a strong relationship with God.

One of Jesus’ habits that Comer highlights is keeping the weekly Sabbath. In Mark 2:27 (NLT) Jesus says, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.” In other words, God created the Sabbath right at the beginning of the earth’s history to be a blessing for all of us.

In another book, Comer points out that the Hebrew word “Shabbat” (Sabbath) means both “to stop,” and “to delight.” Therefore, the weekly Sabbath is a day that God has given us to stop working, rushing and worrying, and to delight in all of the blessings that He has given us.

This makes the Sabbath especially relevant for us today because in the latest HILDA (Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia) Survey where they collect information from a group of 17,000 Australians each year, they found that levels of psychological distress (feelings of sadness, hopelessness, tiredness, nervousness and depression) have gone up across all age groups over the last 10 years. Now there are many reasons for this, but I believe that one of them is that too many of us are missing out on the beautiful gift of the Sabbath that God intended for all of us to experience.

So, if you have been feeling a little bit tired and stressed lately you should try keeping a weekly Sabbath just like Jesus did. Set aside a day each week to stop, and to delight in all of the good things that God has done for you.

God bless,

Roland Talamaivao-Amituanai