Learning to Sabbath - Building My Liturgy

I recently found this book on my desk that I had started and then put down because I had lost interest in it. It's called Seismic Shifts - Small Changes That Make A Big Difference by Kevin Harney. I think this book would be great for a new believer or for someone who feels like they want to strengthen their faith but alot of the suggestions that he makes, I am already doing or have done.

Well, I picked it back up the other day and the chapter that my bookmark was at was about Sabbathing! LOL I kind of felt that alot of what he was saying was already being explored in the Mark Buchanan book that I'm reading but he did make a very good point about HOW we can tell if the schedule for the day looks like Sabbath or not. Here are the things that he suggests would define a 'Sabbath Day' (now please remember that these are just this particular author's suggestions! These are not quotes from the Bible but I felt that they were worth sharing.)

• Our purpose for Sabbath is to draw into a more intimate relationship with God. If your day does not include this, then it is not Sabbath.
• Sabbath is for rest. This does not mean to get legalistic and lay around the house doing nothing all day. It means to do things which are restful for you. If you are a farmer by trade, then working in your garden may not be restful for you. If, on the other hand, you sit at a desk 40 hours a week, then being in your garden may be just what you need. There is no black-and-white answer for what rest is. It is an individual choice and can be changed within your own personal 'choreography'. 
• Sabbath allows us time to fellowship with our family and our family of believers.

So I got to thinking about my trial Sabbath day and how it would measure up to these criteria and here's what I came up with:
** I didn't feel like my time was focused on God. I didn't end my time feeling closer to God. It's times like these that I am thankful that I know that my feelings will lie to me and lead me astray. Just because I didn't feel closer to God doesn't mean that I'm not closer to becoming the person that He wants me to be!! I think the devil knows how to push my buttons (he has been studying me for 39 years, after all!!), and he wanted to knock me off my track of worshiping. Well, you know what?? That is just NOT going to happen!! I may not have been worshiping the way I wanted to or the way I had pictured it in my mind, but I was definitely in prayer. And my heart was definitely being molded by the experience.

So, in light of that I would call the day *successful* just not Sabbath-ful (if that is even a word!)

 So, using the above mentioned guidelines, I can think about the *choreography* of my liturgy. So far it has just been a time of, albeit disconnected and distracted, quiet and prayer. I think that these DO belong on a Sabbath liturgy, but maybe I'm missing something ...

 What are your thoughts?