Nothing that starts with "must, should or ought..."

Over the course of the last couple of years, I have blurred my days together and decided Sunday is sort of like any other day but typically I go to church or feel guilty if I do not go to church. Sometimes I feel I really should clean a room, get groceries, pay bills or sweep the floor. I decided that these things could be restful to me because they felt productive or cleansing in some sort of way.

This week I received a bit of redirecting. "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy..." according to Barbara Brown Taylor means that one should not do anything on the Sabbath that begins with "must, should or ought....". This seemed like a really practical way to figure out how we should order our day on the Sabbath.

So I tried it yesterday and it was so rewarding. Anything that I thought about which started with the words, "I must.. I should.. or I ought.." I felt really liberated to cut out of my plan for the day. God's design and instruction for our lives together really is good and full of rest if only we will choose to live by it. Today, I am feeling really rested even though there is work to do and I am so thankful for the hope that came in practicing Sabbath yesterday. It is my prayer I will continue to practice it with the help of those around me. This is a really good thing!