Perhaps you have never paid attention, but there is in the Bible “a Day for Stress Relief After Work” given to humanity by the Creator of the Universe. Do you want to know more about this? This article, entitled The Sabbath, “Anti-stress Day” to combat Stress, responds to this.

Nowadays, stress is present in the life of every human being. The difficulties and circumstances of daily life expose us to “bad stress.” For decades, man has been continually seeking remedies for stress; science and theories are developing, and research continues – all against “bad stress.” The Bible, or the Word of God, or what should I say, God never stayed on the sidelines. Since the dawn of time, at the very beginning of the world, of humanity, God had foreseen a natural remedy, simple and especially of great significance; but much despised by the world today.

 

The Fourth Command of God: Sabbath, “a Day for Stress Relief After Work”

The fourth commandment of God’s law states the following: “Remember the day of rest, to sanctify it. You will work six days, and you will do all your work. But the seventh day is the day of rest of Jehovah your God: you shall do no work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your servant, nor your cattle, nor the stranger who is in your gates, for in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth and the sea, and all that is therein, and he rested on the seventh day: wherefore Jehovah hath blessed the day of rest and sanctified it.” (Exodus 20: 8-11).

Unfortunately, this most ignored command is the only one that begins with “remember.” This commandment would be good for anyone – setting aside one day a week for physical, mental and spiritual rest. Did you know why?

Because we were created to operate in a seven-day cycle. This is called a weekly rhythm.

In the Bible, the Sabbath is present from the beginning to the end of its pages. At the beginning of life on this planet, we read in Genesis 2: 1-3, that the Creator Himself did three things on the seventh day: first, He blessed him, and then sanctified Him, and finally, He rested. When God sanctifies something, He sets it aside for a specific and sacred purpose. When he blesses something or someone, no one can take away that blessing.

A Command of Mercy for Our Well-Being

Do you have any idea of the number of people who are desperate and frustrated with life’s responsibilities and problems? We are in a hurry and worried, but there is never enough time. We all feel overwhelmed by the needs of our lives: managing our homes, improving our relationships, educating our children, caring for our health, graduating, paying our bills and pursuing a career. These worries, as well as millions of others, are demanding our attention. The problem is that we are finite beings and life keeps asking us each day a little more.

When the great empire builder Cecil Rhodes was in his deathbed he supposedly whispered his words ‘little accomplished – so much to do’. Many people today echo this frustration of Cecil Rhodes.

In the midst of the fury of events and the harsh demands of life, which like the mouth of a tomb that never says ‘enough’ the creator God offers us the Sabbath.

God’s recommendations always aim for our well-being. When He placed a specific commandment in His Law concerning the sanctification of a day, He warned us about the search for goods and the physical and mental deterioration that would result. Today, we can say that by obeying the fourth commandment of the 10 commandments of God, we are really improving our quality of life by avoiding stress. Moreover, we follow the law of life itself, because, after all, the Creator of physical and biological laws is the Creator of spiritual laws.

Whoever created us knows our selfish ambitions. It sometimes happens that our desires to give the best of ourselves can lead us to intemperance and excesses. He, therefore, gave us the fourth precept of the Decalogue as a commandment of mercy.

An “Anti-Stress Day” to Explain the Parable of Human Life

“You will work for,” says the command. This is the time assigned to you. Work, fight, and give the best of yourself. But all this has a limit – the Sabbath. You will rest on this day. Notice the fourth commandment commanding us to work, but it does not say, “work until you are exhausted, and you collapse.” Nor does he say to continue working until the work is finished and to rest until we have finished the work. On the contrary, he says you have to work, but there is a limit on what you have to do.

The Sabbath is the parable of life because it teaches us that one day we will come to the end of our days and breathe our last breath when we still have a lot to do. […]

If we could ever have time, He teaches us what we can do in the time we are given and then rest. From there, we learn how to evaluate what we have achieved not with the standards of our own perfection but with the standards of God’s love.

Weekly Rest: An Example to Follow

You can ask: Is it possible that God is tired? Isaiah 40:28 answers us in the negative. “Do not you know? Did you not learn it? The eternal God, the Lord, created the ends of the earth; He does not tire himself, He does not tire himself; we cannot sound his intelligence. (Isaiah 40:28) In the same way, Jesus did not need to be baptized because He had not committed any sin, but He did so to give us an example to follow (Matthew 3: 13-15). In the same way, God gave us an example by resting on the seventh day. In addition, this rest (Shabbath in Hebrew) has more to do with a break in His creative activity.

In Mark 2:27

Jesus says that the Sabbath is a gift to “man” (the human being), not to a specific people or group. When the Sabbath was inaugurated on earth, only Adam and Eve lived at the time (Read Genesis 2: 1-3). There was no Jew, no other ethnic group.

Clearly, Jesus, the incarnate word (John 1: 1-3), kept the Sabbath when he was here on earth (see Luke 4:16). The same attitude was followed by his disciples (Acts 16:13, Acts 17: 2). Adam and Eve, the patriarchs, prophets, and disciples of Jesus have always sanctified the seventh day of the week, which, according to the Bible, begins at sundown on Friday (the day of preparation) and continues until next sunset (read Nehemiah 13:19, Genesis 1:19, Mark 1:19, Mark 1:32, Leviticus 23:32). To mark the change of the day at midnight is a human invention that goes against the natural human biorhythm. The Sabbath, the seventh day, Saturday, is a gift from God on a weekly basis. Receive and practice this gift, “this anti-stress day.”

A Rest at the Same Time Physical, Mental, and Spiritual for a Perfect Health

God gave men the Sabbath so that they could rest: a physical, mental, and spiritual rest as a cure for stress. Everyone knows the benefits of the rest of the human body. What about this weekly rest that takes into account the physical, mental, and spiritual?

The Sabbath, created to commemorate the provision made by God for a perfect world, took on an additional dimension. From that day on, he would be a provision for a world in sin – his plan to redeem us, heal us, and restore us to a relationship of faith and trust in Him.

Adam had accepted the fact that God made a perfect provision in his finished work of creation, and he expressed his approval by resting on the Sabbath. Christians come together to celebrate the goodness of God and his loving dispositions in creation. By removing ourselves from the deadly rhythm of our everyday activities, by putting ourselves out of the pressures of life during the Sabbath hours, we remember that the world does not revolve around us and that the sun does not do not rise in the morning. The flowers do not bloom when we order them, and the creation can do without us.

Our physical Sabbath rest celebrates and recognizes the wonderful disposition in our favor in the physical world as well as for the people of God since the beginning of the world.

The Sabbath, “A Day for Stress Relief After Work “

Jesus reminded the people of his day that the Sabbath was made for man (Mark 2:27). It is a precious gift that God has given us for our well-being and to provide us with protection. The Sabbath is like a harbor, our shelter from the endless storms of our existence. In this oasis, the exhausted traveler can find restoration and renewal before resuming the struggles of life.

Thus, God calls us to make this “anti-stress day” a delight. “If you keep your foot on the Sabbath, that you do not do your will in my holy day, that you make your Sabbath your delight, to sanctify the Lord by glorifying Him, and honor Him by not following your ways. by not giving in to your inclinations and vain speeches. Then you will put your pleasure in the Lord, and I will make you go up on the authors of the country; I will make you enjoy the inheritance of Jacob, your father; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken. ”  (Isaiah 58: 13-14). This is the way God wants us to keep His holy day – a practice that will last forever (Isaiah 66: 22-23). But how to make the “anti-stress day” a delight?

– Make plans early in the week, including the Sabbath.

– Look forward to the Sabbath as a special day of communion with Jesus.

– At sundown, Friday, gather your family, sing, pray, and usher together at the beginning of the Sabbath.

– On the Sabbath morning, go to church, as Jesus did.

– Beforehand, prepare a special and delicious meal for the Sabbath lunch (Saturday).

– In the afternoon, if there are small children in the family, plan an outing to a park or to places where they can talk about the power and love of God revealed in nature.

– Get involved in charitable activities and provide physical and moral support to the needy, as Jesus did.

– At sundown Saturday, gather the family once again and pray to close the Sabbath, asking for God’s blessing on the new week that begins.

Indeed, when we take advantage of the Sabbath, the “anti-stress day,” it brings us closer not only to God but to ourselves by creating in our inner peace, serenity, flawless optimism, and above all, faith and trust in God, who said, “For I know the plans that I have made concerning you,” says the Lord, “projects of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11).