Thursday, January 6, 2011

Sabbath by Dan Allender

What would you do for a twenty-four hour period of time if the only criterion was to pursue your deepest joy?

Allender says Sabbath is to be that time. “The Sabbath, when experienced as God intended, is the best day of our lives.”
His book is based on three assumptions: Sabbath is not an option (it is a commandment and Jesus did not cancel it), Sabbath is a day of delight, and Sabbath is a feast day that remembers and anticipates.
Allender is clear that Sabbath is not attending church and then going about your business. It is not just a pleasant day away from work. We must be intentional and make preparations ahead of time to experience the joy of Sabbath.
Our Sabbath is to be sensual. Our senses should be ready to taste His goodness, to get lost in beauty. “Sabbath is the day we put to rest all tension, strife, and fighting.” It is the “day we set aside to look at one another from the vantage point of eternity...” It is a day for justice, for dreaming.
Allender says, “Few people are willing to enter the Sabbath and sanctify it, to make it holy, because a full day of delight and joy is more than most people can bear in a lifetime, let alone a week.” He does give us insight into what prevents us from enjoying what God has for us.
Experiencing the Sabbath as Allender describes it will take planning. What could be better to plan for – a day of delight in God and His creation. “The Sabbath is a day when we enter a dance with God and others and experience a beauty that takes our breath away.”

This book was provided for the purpose of this review by Thomas Nelson Publishers.

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