Book Review: Sabbath

I just finished reading Dan Allender's book "Sabbath" and it is fantastic. One of eight books in the Ancient Practices series, this book digs into the different myths about this "day of rest". Allender builds a case for "a day of delight" by looking at this day as a festival that celebrates God's re-creative and redemptive love, he does this by using four components: sensual glory and beauty, ritual, communal feasting and playfulness. This book really opened my eyes to what the Sabbath is and what it could be in my life. The Sabbath is more that just a day off of work, it is a day to delight with God in his creation and to renew our spirits to His great love! Allender breaks his book down into three parts: Sabbath Pillars, Sabbath Purpose and Sabbath Performance. Part 1: Sabbath Pillars: The book starts out with Allender unpacking, what he calls, the Sabbath Pillars, which are sensual glory and beauty, ritual, communal feasting and playfulness. He does a great job of explaining the history of the Sabbath and the meaning of the Sabbath. He addresses each of the four components and explains how they each serve a role in the Sabbath. Part 2: Sabbath Purpose: This part of the book digs deeper into the purpose of the Sabbath and what emotions that Sabbath brings about. Part 3: Sabbath Performance: This part of the book explains the different ways the Sabbath can look and how it can play out in our lives. This book is packed full of great wisdom, Allender shares from his own experience of observing the Sabbath. He does a great job of explaining the importance but also with that, what obstacles will pop up along the way. Allender really opened my eyes to this ancient practice and I am thankful for his insight. As with these ancient practices, it will take practice, but I am looking forward to becoming more intentional in my observation of the Sabbath.