Sabbath

It's the most broken commandment of the 10, even though it's put in the 4th position. It's also probably the least enforced or talked about.

No one takes a break now, especially in Singapore. The benefits don't outweigh the cost. In fact, what are the benefits anyway?

But being a good christian boy wannabe, I decided to give it a go this year. I had a 3 day school week, so I thought I can finally try to take a full day off work.

Nothing magical happened. I was sometimes stressed over not doing work. It made me feel guilty. Especially thinking about how everyone else was working when I was slacking- that made things tough. I'm kiasu too you know... But I stuck with it, and for half a year did no work on the Sabbath.

(Sundays were working days to me because I was serving in church all day it was more tiring than filling, so I followed the Jews and took Saturday off.)

The turning point came in India. I had but 22 days there do change the world. That's very little time to spend several days slacking off! But I realised that if I could not even keep the 10 commandments during a mission trip, I've completely missed the point. So I took a day off for each of the 3 weeks there in India.

Something changed within me there. I realised what the Sabbath was really about. For so long I've been only keeping the first half of it- do no work. But I had missed out on the other half- Keep it holy.


When was the last time you noticed the old woman who cleans the rubbish dump under your block of flats on a Saturday afternoon, or the construction worker laboring in the hot sun to build our homes? When was the last time you acknowledged their presence? When was the last time you smiled at someone you didn't know?

When was the last time you looked at the sky, or stopped to watch kites fly, or the planes fly past, or appreciate the beauty of flowers with lens and eye?

When was the last time you danced in the streets and sang aloud to your heart's content? Or visited the block next to yours? Or visit the garden of your neighbors, or at least look at their collection of potted plants?

When was the last time you noticed how much your neighborhood has changed?

When's the last time you kissed your parents? Even one of them?

When was the last time you prayed?


For me, that day was today. And it was the most radical Sabbath I've had. To not work is to slack, which gives no pleasure. But to get out and enjoy the surroundings God has put around you, and to share the joy with anyone you meet, that... is awesomeness.

Try it. I dare you. Go out, wear whatever you want, and go with the intention of making others smile. Then you'll understand why God made enjoyment a rule-

For once, I can say I have a life.

If you don't dare, but want to try, let me know. I'll accompany you next Saturday, or any Saturday as long as I'm around. As long as you're going for the same reason as I am of course.

Exodus 20:8-11 (New International Version)

 ⁸ "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.