Got an e-mail from a reader this week who had read my recent interview on the Proverbs 31 site. She asked some questions that I thought would resonate with other readers. She wrote:

“I have wondered at what God would say to us about Sabbath.  I
also wonder at how we seem to mostly disregard this commandment more than the
other 9 in the “Big List” :^)….I have longed to know more but not much has
been taught on what Sabbath is supposed to look like.  Somehow a nap on Sunday
afternoon doesn’t quite make the “grade” in my mind of what God is talking
about.”

a traditional sabbath table setting

Here’s just a small part of my response to this dear woman, who is earnestly seeking God’s will:

 While you are correct that Sabbath is much more than a Sunday afternoon nap, that nap is certainly permissible and, in some cases, necessary–for someone is who driven, and always running. And the whole point of Sabbath, in my humble opinion, is that it is a day in which we have freedom from “making the grade” at all. It is sheer gift. It’s a day to enjoy God, a day we experience his unconditional love in a fresh way because we realize that his love is not based on our performance at all. It’s a day when we rest, and God provides. He makes the grade, he is more than sufficient. I think many people miss the joy of Sabbath because they wonder what they will have to do to “make the grade” with God.
 What are your thoughts, readers?