Janelle Esker I am experimenting with different variables of our family’s weekly Sabbath. I have removed all technology from my Sabbath. (Admittedly, I am the only one currently doing this little experiment. It was a hard sell.) It has now been over a month and what I have found is the title of this post – The Healing Power Of No Tech Sabbath Rest!
A little history, we have been celebrating the weekly Sabbath for over 25 years. Why? Simply put, because God commands it.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Exodus 20:8-11
I absolutely love mining the Word of God for wisdom, because Scripture has the power to transform. They are not mere words but THE WORD!
There are three simple elements of the Sabbath…
Remember The Hebrew word for “remember” means “set aside.”
Rest is the Hebrew word nuach which means repose, be quiet, have rest after labor.
Holy means set aside from all other days as special. The “Sabbath Day” rest is to be God-centered rest. Keep the day holy by keeping the focus on our Holy God.
Eliminating all technology from the Sabbath falls under the rest category, for me. Giving up my phone and computer for a twenty-five-hour period is renewing and refreshing in a way I never expected. It is almost as if my brain is rewiring during this much-needed break. It is the healing power of Sabbath rest!
When you opt out of using technology on the Sabbath you open up room for even more rest, good conversations, and worship.
The Healing Power Of No Tech Sabbath Rest
- One recent report found that adults in the US check their phones, on average, 344 times a day, once every four minutes, and spend almost three hours a day on their devices in total!
- The problem for many of us, including me, is that just one phone-related task leads to a quick check of our email or social media feeds, and suddenly we realize that we’ve been sucked into meaningless scrolling.
- A study in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research found that cognitive capacity was significantly reduced whenever a smartphone is within reach, even when the phone is off.
We need a weekly rest from technology!
- The first week I removed all technology from my Sabbath was hard. Honestly, I kept reaching for my phone. This tech sabbatical allowed me to meaningfully engage with my family and I even took a nap! Talk about refreshing!
- Each following week of Sabbath rest was easier and easier because I was establishing more life-giving routines instead of focusing on draining ones.
- I had more energy and was able to go for a Sunday walk with my husband.
- I now wake up refreshed on Monday morning, an occurrence that has never occurred in my life!
- No brain fog or fatigue. I wonder, how much of this problem is a result of the overuse of technology.
It has been a delight to explore The Healing Power Of a No Tech Sabbath Rest. It has become a critical part of my weekly Sabbath celebration. I am so thankful for the renewing of my mind taking place as a result of my no-technology weekly fast!
YOUR TURN…
Who’s with me? Let’s do this life-giving practice together!
Peacefully Yours,
Janelle
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