Worship, Feasting, Rest, Mercy

Do we ever get to rest? In Worship, Feasting, Rest, Mercy: The Christian Sabbath, Daniel Howe explains how God gives us a gift every Lord’s Day.

Why and How

This small but packed book is split into two parts. Part 1: Sabbath Why, gives the background of the Sabbath in the Old Testament and shows the important part it played in the history of the God’s people. Part 2: Sabbath How, gets practical about how we experience the Sabbath today, and how we can employ it as an act of worship. 

I was most challenged to see how we can make our work into idols. Interestingly, Howe points out that we often want to rest at work, and how we want to work when we’re supposed to be resting! Howe says that working is a kind of sacrifice when we do it to the glory of God. I learned that it is possible to have a heart that serves God, no matter your situation.

God’s Gift of Rest

I was most inspired to save our Sundays for days of feasting. Feasting means enjoying the fruit of your labor, and enjoying God’s blessings. “Rest and feast cannot be separated.” And it is still connected to our Sunday worship, as “feasting flows from worship because rest flows from worship.” We can feast well by making it restful for those who cook our physical food, while still including elements of thanksgiving and worship.

This book will help you see that God grants us the gift of rest in this restless world. Christian rest is grounded in biblical history, and continues to be a blessing for the church.

This review was first published on July 4, 2023. I received a media copy of Worship, Feasting, Rest, Mercy: The Christian Sabbath and this is my honest review. Find more of my book reviews and follow Dive In, Dig Deep on Instagram - my account dedicated to Bibles and books to see the beauty of the Bible and the role of reading in the Christian life. To read all of my book reviews and to receive all of the free eBooks I find on the web, subscribe to my free newsletter.