April 3, 2025 • 31 mins
Have you ever felt pressure to perform, produce, and push through exhaustion? In this soul-refreshing conversation, Ellen is joined by her daughter Taylor Krause (Coffee and Bible Time co-creator) to explore the transformative practice of Sabbath rest—a discipline that's increasingly counter-cultural yet desperately needed.
Taylor shares her own struggles with technology addiction and the sobering reality that the average person spends ten years of their life on screens. What might happen if we reclaimed even a fraction of that time for true rest?
Ellen and Taylor address the dangers of legalism, offer practical tips for different life seasons, and ultimately point to Jesus' invitation in Matthew 11: "Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Ready to experience the transformative power of true rest? Grab your coffee and listen in, then share this episode with someone who needs permission to pause in our productivity-obsessed world. Rest will require intentionality and discipline, but it's a beautiful way to build trust in God's sovereignty and to savor his presence in our lives.
Show notes: Pastor David Giese (of Village Church of Gurnee) gives a sermon on the Sabbath: https://www.youtube.com/live/MRaB8VxxxYc?si=l6hmoRdFh0n7qjQR
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ellen (00:04):
At the Coffee and Bible Time podcast.
our goal is to help you delightin God's Word and thrive in
Christian living.
Each week, we talk to subjectmatter experts who broaden your
biblical understanding,encourage you in hard times and
provide life-building tips toenhance your Christian walk.
We are so glad you have joinedus.
(00:25):
Welcome back to the Coffee andBible Time podcast.
This is Ellen, your host, andtoday I am joined by one of my
favorite people, Taylor Krause.
For anyone who doesn't know,Taylor is one of the creators of
Coffee and Bible Time, alongwith her sister, Ashley, and
(00:51):
also happens to be my daughter.
We're here today to talk aboutthe practice that has been so
restorative to us, to our mentalhealth and our spiritual walk
with God, and that is the weeklyrhythm of Sabbath.
For any of our listeners whomight not know what Sabbath is,
it is the ancient Jewish andChristian practice of taking one
day out of the week to stopworking and rest.
(01:14):
This is a spiritual disciplinethat is not a command for
believers, but it is aninvitation.
In Genesis 1, we read that Godspends six days creating the
universe, but stops on theseventh to rest and enjoy his
work, and in the Gospels we seeJesus doing this very thing.
(01:38):
He regularly pauses from hisministry.
He withdraws from the crowds,sometimes alone, sometimes with
his closest disciples, but he iswithdrawing to rest and pray.
So if God himself took time torest from his work and ministry,
how much more do we need thatrest ourselves?
(02:01):
So T let's talk about thiselusive sometimes elusive topic
of rest.
When did you first learn aboutthis practice of Sabbath and
what motivated you to startpracticing it?
Taylor (02:19):
That's a really great question.
I think that the word Sabbathwas something that I heard time
to time growing up.
It wasn't really something thatI felt the church really
impressed upon me to observe.
It wasn't really a topic ofconversation a lot, and I think
(02:42):
the topic of Sabbath can bepushed a little bit to the
margins in our culture.
I'm going to speak for theWestern culture that we have
here.
I think we do tend to idolize alittle bit hard work.
I'll say I grew up in a familymy mom very hard worker, my dad
very hard worker, so I grew upwith these two examples of
(03:06):
people who really honored hardwork.
And I would say in our family Ithink we tend to overvalue hard
work and undervalue the needfor rest.
I feel like my personalstruggle in life, ironically,
even though I grew up in ahousehold where a lot of people
were extremely hardworking, somuch so that I felt a little bit
(03:30):
like a black sheep, becausesometimes I can get stuck in a
cycle of doom scrolling onsocial media and really being
bad at time management.
I'm just going to put that outthere.
That is not my strong suit.
I'm not an organized gal and soI tend to felt maybe a little
(03:51):
bit like a black sheep in thefamily.
And I'd say, in Western cultureyou don't benefit from honoring
the Sabbath, you don't benefitfrom prioritizing rest.
I'd say in the corporate worldthey probably really want to see
every person going above andbeyond.
They don't want to see peopleprioritizing mental health or
(04:13):
taking time to really fill theircup up spiritually, which I
think is the importantdistinction of honoring the
Sabbath for Christians, which Ithink is the important
distinction of honoring theSabbath for Christians.
And the first time that I heardabout the Sabbath I mean
learned in depth was in college,and that's because one of our
introductory courses at Bibleschool was on Christian living
(04:37):
and they talked a lot aboutspiritual disciplines and
Sabbath was one of them.
And I will say that the two bigimportant takeaways that I took
from that was, first, thatSabbath is not a command and
that people don't necessarilyhave to take a Sabbath every
week, but that a Sabbath isreally beneficial and that God
(04:59):
created it for us to be able toregenerate ourselves and connect
with God.
A lot of people tend to takeSunday as their Sabbath right,
where you know you go to churchand then maybe after church,
instead of shopping or going onyour phone or I don't know doing
X, y Z, you really take time tobe in God's word, be in prayer,
(05:25):
have fellowship with otherpeople in church and have that
intentional time of pouring intoyour relationship with God.
And I'm telling you that I'vestruggled as much as I am a
resting type girl, I think Ioften neglect prioritizing
(05:46):
spiritual rest, which is very,very different from what we
think of resting.
You know, sitting and watchingNetflix and going on YouTube and
scrolling on social media andgoing shopping those are filling
ourselves up with things thataren't necessarily spiritually
edifying.
And I've taken from even thiscall for you, mom, to talk about
(06:09):
resting in this podcast as agood reminder for myself to be
more aware of the Sabbath.
And, mom, I know that you justrecently went to church service
where they were really talkingabout the Sabbath.
How was that to hear that kindof preach to the church and how
do you think people really tookit?
Ellen (06:30):
Well, I want to take a step back really quick before I
answer that, because I wanted totalk about my own upbringing
and you know, Sundays for us wasa time where we did go to
church, so we were having thatspiritual element.
I remember then we always wentgrocery shopping and then we
(06:53):
would come home and I know mymom would rest the rest of the
day.
At that time in my life Ididn't understand the Sabbath or
what it really meant or what wewere doing.
I just was doing it.
It actually wasn't until acouple of years ago that we
really got talking about it atCoffee and Bible Time and I
(07:14):
think it was Ashley that reallychallenged me to take a Sabbath
and I've been really trying todo it consistently ever since
then and it has changed myperspective on being able to
(07:35):
plan in advance, being able tolet go, trust God with what he
can do with the six days of theweek versus what I feel like I
need to do in seven.
And when we had our servicerecently, pastor David which I
am definitely going to link hissermon in the show notes you
have to listen to it it just wasreally incredible because we're
(07:56):
going through five formativepractices headed into Easter,
and this one on the Sabbath wasso, I think, encouraging and
something that people reallyneed to hear, especially, like
you said, Taylor, from ourfamily's background of work,
work, work, work, work.
I think that if we can let go ofthat, it's actually very
(08:19):
freeing, and I'm talking aboutboth spiritually and resting.
So letting go of the thingsthat I have to do for my work
and instead using that time togo to church, spend time with
the fellowship of the body ofChrist and worshiping God in the
church setting, and then takingthe time for me, at least in
(08:42):
the rest of the day, to dothings that fill my cup.
So that's, I think it's notnecessarily, like you mentioned,
is just like sitting on thecouch, but it's kind of things
that, like it might be gardening, like yes, that's like a manual
labor, but it's something thatI love, I'm interested in, it's
(09:04):
a hobby, so I can truly feellike I'm being filled, I'm
pushing away burnout and reallyusing that time to regenerate.
Taylor (09:16):
Yeah, and just to piggyback a little bit off of
that, it can be easy to think of, like resting on the Sabbath as
very rigid.
Well, we have to just bepraying and we only go to church
and we only pray and we onlyread our Bible and we can't, you
know, make a nice meal becausethat's working and you know
(09:39):
extremes.
I like what you said, mom,about gardening, how that brings
you life, and I actually had aconversation with a recent newer
believer who had just giventheir life to Christ and they
were asking me like, well, nowthat I'm a Christian, does that
mean that I can't love all theseother things that I used to
(10:01):
love, like playing soccer andplaying games and hanging out
with my friends and you know allthis stuff, right?
Because they were like, well,if I'm really loving God, then
that means that I can't loveanything else.
And what I would say?
Like you said, mom, with theSabbath, god gives us passions,
(10:22):
god gives us hobbies, god givesus things in life that give us
joy.
They aren't our ultimate joy,but God gives us creativity,
because he made us in his image,and gardening is a type of
creative activity where you canbring life to the soil, and I
think of people that like tocreate art.
(10:44):
You love doing art on yourSabbath, mom.
I know that it's a creative wayto express your God-given
talents.
It's a way to reflect his image, and I believe that God can be
honored in doing fun activities,if we're doing them to glorify
him, if we do it with him inmind and we give thanks and
(11:06):
praise.
Thank you, God for letting megarden.
Thank you, Lord, for giving methe ability to love art.
Thank you, God for letting meplay music, for being able to
write songs, for doing all ofthese fun things that do give me
rest.
I heard one woman say that shechallenged herself on the
Sabbath to not do these otheryou know, quote-unquote restful
(11:29):
things like binge-watchingNetflix or doom scrolling on
social media and TikTok, orgoing shopping at Marshalls and
TJ Maxx and buying everything toyour heart's delight.
I think that there are some funthings that we do that maybe
aren't actually spirituallyenriching.
We can say that they're notevil, but is it really giving
(11:52):
you a restful Sabbath issomething that I would ask
yourself.
If you're listening to thisright now and you're thinking
okay, I really want to engage ina time of restful Sabbath, what
does that look like for me?
Because I'm telling you,sometimes, when I want to do
things for fun, I just want togo to Marshalls and TJ Maxx.
I want to browse every singleaisle, pick up every nook and
(12:12):
cranny that I see there and getmyself a good deal.
But I would say that for me, amore restful Sabbath would be
slowing down, enjoying what Godhas already given me, tapping
into some of those creativeabilities that he's given me in
music, in art, photography,gardening, and being content and
(12:33):
satisfied with what he's givenme in music, in art, photography
, gardening, and being contentand satisfied with what he's
given me.
Ellen (12:39):
One thing, Taylor, that you touched on that is really
relevant, about making theSabbath too legalistic is
something that Jesus called outin Mark, chapter 2.
And I'm going to read verses 23to 28 so that we can just touch
on this a minute.
(12:59):
It says, "One Sabbath he wasgoing through the grain fields
and as they made their way, hisdisciples began to pluck heads
of grain And the Pharisees weresaying to him, 'Look, why are
they doing what is not lawful onthe Sabbath?
And he said to them 'Have younever read what David did when
he was in need and was hungry,he and those who were with him,
(13:23):
how he entered the house of Godin the time of Abiathar, the
high priest, and ate the breadof the presence, which it is not
lawful for any but the priestto eat.
'"This passage really struck home
with me because it gets to theheart of when rules overtake the
(14:02):
spirit of the law.
And I think in this particularexample, what we're looking at
is you know, the Pharisees werecalling out Jesus' disciples for
harvesting, threshing andwinnowing this grain from the
field, like that was an act ofwork and that that was going
(14:23):
against the law.
But he pulls out this examplefrom King David.
When David and his men weredesperate for food and
nourishment and because theirbodily needs transcended the
quote-unquote rule of the temple, he was given that bread, and I
(14:49):
think we have to just remindourselves that we don't want to
become like the Pharisees inbeing too much focused on that
and then, at the same time, toforget about human needs and be
conscientious of that as we dealwith other people.
(15:16):
Do you have any thoughts on that?
Taylor (15:17):
Yeah, it reminds me just of a simple phrase that I feel
like I heard a lot growing upand I still really adhere to
today is that God looks at theheart, And that applies to every
situation, every conversationyou have, everything you do in
public or in secret, whateverGod is looking at your heart,
and the same is true for theSabbath, and so if you are doing
(15:40):
something to honor and glorifyGod, god sees your heart.
I think of that other passagein John, where it just so
happened to be the Sabbath.
I think that this wasdefinitely intentional on Jesus'
part.
He's walking past a blind man.
He decides to acknowledge himand heal him.
(16:02):
So he spits on the ground, he'srubbing the dirt together in
his fingers and he makes mud,and he heals the blind man by
putting the mud on his eyes andhaving the blind man wash the
mud off.
What do the Pharisees do?
Oh, they are on Jesus so fastfor healing the blind man on the
(16:23):
Sabbath.
How ironic is it that thePharisees are really truly the
blind ones in the story, right?
The blind man is able to, inthe end.
Come and see Jesus for who heis, see Jesus's heart, see that
he is God.
The blind men I'm sorry, well,really, yes, blind men but the
(16:44):
Pharisees are so concerned abouttheir own self-righteousness,
so concerned about keeping theirown extra rules, that they
couldn't reflect on their ownheart, they couldn't see Jesus
for who he truly was, and thatveil was not taken from their
(17:04):
eyes for them to see who Jesuswas.
And, of course, these storiesare so relevant and important to
us today because it shows usthat you can be somebody who is
very religious, who thinksyou're doing all the right
Christian-y things, and trulyyour heart is hard for what God
wants for you in your life.
(17:25):
And I have found in myself thatI can be a lot like the
Pharisees in thinking, yeah, I'ma good Christian.
People think I'm a really goodChristian, but God sees through
my heart and sees.
You know, I have been spendinga lot of time watching Netflix
and I'm being on YouTube.
I spend a lot more time on myphone than I spend really
(17:48):
abiding in Christ, and that'sbeen on my heart as of lately.
I heard a horrifying statisticthat just about scared the pants
off of me, and that was thatnowadays, because of technology,
our phones, social media,everything people will spend on
the average, $1,000 a month, 10years of their life on
(18:11):
technology.
10 years of your life juststraight being on your phone.
And I heard that statistic.
I'm like I know that that'stalking about me.
I know that that's talkingabout me because, as much as I
am not proud about technologyand how that has very influenced
my life, I will be honest aboutit.
(18:33):
I would be afraid to see myscreen time, let's just say that
.
But I think that this isextremely relevant for the
Christian knowing, if you justsit and reflect as you're
listening to this, what would 10years of your life spent on
your phone?
How could that time be used tobe impactful for the kingdom of
God, for your growth in yourrelationship with him, for the
(18:56):
connection to other people, forusing the creative gifts that
God has given you and livingyour life to the fullest?
I was really struck by that.
Ellen (19:04):
Oh yeah, that is really a shocking statistic and, like
you said and like you said, it'sone of those things you learn
in economics there's theopportunity cost of what you
could have accomplished or doneor, like you said, help the
kingdom of God in that same timethat you were kind of doing
(19:25):
mindless activities.
So that's a good reminder forall of us, for sure.
One thing that I'd like to justtouch on briefly is there are
going to be seasons in your lifewhere it might be very
difficult to truly rest on theSabbath, and I'm thinking of,
(19:47):
like, a young mother who mightbe listening to this and
thinking, oh, it's just almostimpossible for me.
And I just want to encourageyou that number one, that is a
season.
And number two, if you aregoing to church, you are
spending time with God on thatSabbath day, and I would
(20:09):
encourage you.
If you don't have a body ofbelievers, that's a place where
you can go.
I know when we used to take ourkids to church when they were
young, just that time of lettingyou guys be with other kids and
learning about Jesus in thatsetting, and just that time.
I needed that time to worshipGod and sort of reset for my
(20:32):
week and other things too, thatyou can do is just planning
ahead, like.
One thing I decided was, onSaturdays, try to make twice as
much of one meal so that onSundays you don't have to cook a
whole 'nother meal or haveleftovers on Sunday or order in
(20:53):
on Sunday to just to give you alittle bit of a break from doing
some of those 'have to's'.
You know you have to take careof your children and that is
that's a gift from God that youare able to do that.
But don't be discouraged.
If you're feeling unrested,maybe you need to ask for help
(21:15):
too.
Taylor, what do you think aboutthat in terms of now that your
sister has a child and you see,like, how demanding it can be
every day of the week?
Taylor (21:40):
I am just floored by the amount of energy it takes for a
mother to be a mother and ofcourse, you're ignorant to that
when you're a kid, you're justliving your life.
But this past week I've been inIowa and I'm going to be here
for the next two weeks just kindof helping to babysit my sweet
little, adorable nephew, Theo.
And so I just babysit him acouple times a week for five
(22:03):
hours and, holy cow, does hetake the energy out of you.
He is like ready to play,zooming around constantly, you
know, laughing, smiling andlooking for you to see him and
affirm him and feed him andchange him, and I think about
(22:26):
Ashley and how.
You know I'm only doing this acouple days a week, but for the
busy moms out there, I'm like,wow, you need to be extremely
intentional about finding littlemoments to rest and I'm going
to say this, really intentionalabout asking for help, because I
(22:47):
mean, I know it's differentculture to culture depending on
where you're from.
A lot of cultures have thatbuilt in.
You know families around andyou're able to ask for help and
it's kind of this whole networkof taking care of each other and
making sure everybody hasmoments of rest.
I think for us, because we'reall spread out, it's difficult
to kind of offer that help toher.
(23:08):
So she has to make sure that shedevelops those relationships.
She has that with her in-lawsand they're able to take care of
Theo a couple days a week,which is really nice, and also
she has a mom's group at churchand a group of friends at church
that she can go to and havethat sort of spiritual renewing.
Conversations of other peoplewho are in similar stages of
(23:30):
life can relate to her, resonatewith her, but kudos to anybody
out there that is a mom rightnow, to any of you that are
listening that are in the stageof life where you are feeling
like you run ragged into theground and you are just waiting
for God to show you that he seesyou and that he wants to help
(23:54):
give you rest.
I think that that's a realplace that a lot of people are
in.
Honestly, even if you don'thave kids and your work is
running you ragged or school isor whatever, I'm thinking of you
all and praying that God willshow you his face and that he
will show you ways that you caneven in a little way experience
(24:17):
the renewing of a little bit ofSabbath time being with him and
slowing down.
Ellen (24:24):
Absolutely, you know.
I just want to, as we start toclose up this conversation, I
want to pull out and look atMatthew 11, 25 to 30, because I
think we need to take a look atyou know.
How does Jesus make soul restavailable to us?
And listen to this (24:44):
it says.
"At that time, Jesus declared Ithank you, father, lord of
heaven and earth, that you havehidden these things from the
wise and understanding andrevealed them to little children
.
Yes, father, for such was yourgracious will.
All things have been handedover to me by my Father, and no
(25:05):
one knows the Son except theFather, and no one knows the
Father except the Son and anyoneto whom the Son chooses to
reveal him.
Come to me all who labor andare heavy laden, and I will give
you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learnfrom me, for I am gentle and
(25:26):
lowly in heart, and you willfind rest for your souls, for my
yoke is easy and my burden islight.
How do those verses encourageyou, Tay.
And what would you say to thoselistening about this passage?
Taylor (25:43):
Yeah, run to Jesus.
That's my encouragement to youand that's my encouragement to
myself.
I think we can really kind oftrick ourselves into thinking
that we are rested when we spendtime on social media and spend
time watching TV and reallywe're left more empty than ever.
(26:07):
Really, we can only find truerest, true fulfillment, in the
person of Jesus, and that takesa willingness to take that step
forward into coming towards him.
My practical application for youin that is to set for yourself
a rhythm of prayer to come toGod and set intentional times
(26:30):
where you are going to havethese conversations with God.
The more you talk with God, themore the Holy Spirit is going
to stir in you to make Jesusmore and more a part of your
life.
And that might be the firststep for you in making time for
Sabbath, because taking time forthe Sabbath is gonna be hard
(26:53):
for a lot of us and you don'tnecessarily have to do it.
But what we do see is that theSabbath is so helpful.
God created it for us.
He created us with a need forrest and a rhythm to that rest.
Come to the Lord in prayer,give him your needs, show him
(27:15):
that you want him to guide yourheart towards abiding in him.
Ellen (27:23):
Well, thank you, Taylor, so much for joining me today.
For those that are listening, Ihope that you feel encouraged.
We want to challenge you thisweek to take time to rest.
This requires intentionalityand discipline, but it's a
(27:47):
beautiful way to build trust inGod's sovereignty and to savor
his presence in our lives.
So, Taylor, would you mind justclosing us in prayer for our
listeners?
Taylor (27:55):
Absolutely.
Dear Lord.
God, we thank you for this timeto talk about you, to be
blessed by your word and tothink about what it means to
rest in you.
God, I pray for all those whoare listening today that are
seeking you, desiring you thatyou would fill them with your
Spirit, renew in them a yearningand a fire to be passionate
(28:22):
about you and growing theirrelationship with you.
Give them opportunities to seehow they can incorporate rest
into their life.
Help them, Lord, to be stirredto do that starting this week
and to think about how they canspend time resting and filling
their cup up spiritually withyou.
(28:42):
Lord, we pray for this blessing.
We ask you to bless us s as wego about this week, Amen.
Ellen (28:52):
Amen, All right.
well, thank you so much fortaking time out of your day to
listen to our podcast.
We would love it if you wouldtell a friend about the Coffee
and Bible Time podcast.
Have a blessed day.
At the Coffee and Bible Time podcast.
our goal is to help you delightin God's Word and thrive in
Christian living.
Each week, we talk to subjectmatter experts who broaden your
biblical understanding,encourage you in hard times and
provide life-building tips toenhance your Christian walk.
We are so glad you have joinedus.
(00:25):
Welcome back to the Coffee andBible Time podcast.
This is Ellen, your host, andtoday I am joined by one of my
favorite people, Taylor Krause.
For anyone who doesn't know,Taylor is one of the creators of
Coffee and Bible Time, alongwith her sister, Ashley, and
(00:51):
also happens to be my daughter.
We're here today to talk aboutthe practice that has been so
restorative to us, to our mentalhealth and our spiritual walk
with God, and that is the weeklyrhythm of Sabbath.
For any of our listeners whomight not know what Sabbath is,
it is the ancient Jewish andChristian practice of taking one
day out of the week to stopworking and rest.
(01:14):
This is a spiritual disciplinethat is not a command for
believers, but it is aninvitation.
In Genesis 1, we read that Godspends six days creating the
universe, but stops on theseventh to rest and enjoy his
work, and in the Gospels we seeJesus doing this very thing.
(01:38):
He regularly pauses from hisministry.
He withdraws from the crowds,sometimes alone, sometimes with
his closest disciples, but he iswithdrawing to rest and pray.
So if God himself took time torest from his work and ministry,
how much more do we need thatrest ourselves?
(02:01):
So T let's talk about thiselusive sometimes elusive topic
of rest.
When did you first learn aboutthis practice of Sabbath and
what motivated you to startpracticing it?
Taylor (02:19):
That's a really great question.
I think that the word Sabbathwas something that I heard time
to time growing up.
It wasn't really something thatI felt the church really
impressed upon me to observe.
It wasn't really a topic ofconversation a lot, and I think
(02:42):
the topic of Sabbath can bepushed a little bit to the
margins in our culture.
I'm going to speak for theWestern culture that we have
here.
I think we do tend to idolize alittle bit hard work.
I'll say I grew up in a familymy mom very hard worker, my dad
very hard worker, so I grew upwith these two examples of
(03:06):
people who really honored hardwork.
And I would say in our family Ithink we tend to overvalue hard
work and undervalue the needfor rest.
I feel like my personalstruggle in life, ironically,
even though I grew up in ahousehold where a lot of people
were extremely hardworking, somuch so that I felt a little bit
(03:30):
like a black sheep, becausesometimes I can get stuck in a
cycle of doom scrolling onsocial media and really being
bad at time management.
I'm just going to put that outthere.
That is not my strong suit.
I'm not an organized gal and soI tend to felt maybe a little
(03:51):
bit like a black sheep in thefamily.
And I'd say, in Western cultureyou don't benefit from honoring
the Sabbath, you don't benefitfrom prioritizing rest.
I'd say in the corporate worldthey probably really want to see
every person going above andbeyond.
They don't want to see peopleprioritizing mental health or
(04:13):
taking time to really fill theircup up spiritually, which I
think is the importantdistinction of honoring the
Sabbath for Christians, which Ithink is the important
distinction of honoring theSabbath for Christians.
And the first time that I heardabout the Sabbath I mean
learned in depth was in college,and that's because one of our
introductory courses at Bibleschool was on Christian living
(04:37):
and they talked a lot aboutspiritual disciplines and
Sabbath was one of them.
And I will say that the two bigimportant takeaways that I took
from that was, first, thatSabbath is not a command and
that people don't necessarilyhave to take a Sabbath every
week, but that a Sabbath isreally beneficial and that God
(04:59):
created it for us to be able toregenerate ourselves and connect
with God.
A lot of people tend to takeSunday as their Sabbath right,
where you know you go to churchand then maybe after church,
instead of shopping or going onyour phone or I don't know doing
X, y Z, you really take time tobe in God's word, be in prayer,
(05:25):
have fellowship with otherpeople in church and have that
intentional time of pouring intoyour relationship with God.
And I'm telling you that I'vestruggled as much as I am a
resting type girl, I think Ioften neglect prioritizing
(05:46):
spiritual rest, which is very,very different from what we
think of resting.
You know, sitting and watchingNetflix and going on YouTube and
scrolling on social media andgoing shopping those are filling
ourselves up with things thataren't necessarily spiritually
edifying.
And I've taken from even thiscall for you, mom, to talk about
(06:09):
resting in this podcast as agood reminder for myself to be
more aware of the Sabbath.
And, mom, I know that you justrecently went to church service
where they were really talkingabout the Sabbath.
How was that to hear that kindof preach to the church and how
do you think people really tookit?
Ellen (06:30):
Well, I want to take a step back really quick before I
answer that, because I wanted totalk about my own upbringing
and you know, Sundays for us wasa time where we did go to
church, so we were having thatspiritual element.
I remember then we always wentgrocery shopping and then we
(06:53):
would come home and I know mymom would rest the rest of the
day.
At that time in my life Ididn't understand the Sabbath or
what it really meant or what wewere doing.
I just was doing it.
It actually wasn't until acouple of years ago that we
really got talking about it atCoffee and Bible Time and I
(07:14):
think it was Ashley that reallychallenged me to take a Sabbath
and I've been really trying todo it consistently ever since
then and it has changed myperspective on being able to
(07:35):
plan in advance, being able tolet go, trust God with what he
can do with the six days of theweek versus what I feel like I
need to do in seven.
And when we had our servicerecently, pastor David which I
am definitely going to link hissermon in the show notes you
have to listen to it it just wasreally incredible because we're
(07:56):
going through five formativepractices headed into Easter,
and this one on the Sabbath wasso, I think, encouraging and
something that people reallyneed to hear, especially, like
you said, Taylor, from ourfamily's background of work,
work, work, work, work.
I think that if we can let go ofthat, it's actually very
(08:19):
freeing, and I'm talking aboutboth spiritually and resting.
So letting go of the thingsthat I have to do for my work
and instead using that time togo to church, spend time with
the fellowship of the body ofChrist and worshiping God in the
church setting, and then takingthe time for me, at least in
(08:42):
the rest of the day, to dothings that fill my cup.
So that's, I think it's notnecessarily, like you mentioned,
is just like sitting on thecouch, but it's kind of things
that, like it might be gardening, like yes, that's like a manual
labor, but it's something thatI love, I'm interested in, it's
(09:04):
a hobby, so I can truly feellike I'm being filled, I'm
pushing away burnout and reallyusing that time to regenerate.
Taylor (09:16):
Yeah, and just to piggyback a little bit off of
that, it can be easy to think of, like resting on the Sabbath as
very rigid.
Well, we have to just bepraying and we only go to church
and we only pray and we onlyread our Bible and we can't, you
know, make a nice meal becausethat's working and you know
(09:39):
extremes.
I like what you said, mom,about gardening, how that brings
you life, and I actually had aconversation with a recent newer
believer who had just giventheir life to Christ and they
were asking me like, well, nowthat I'm a Christian, does that
mean that I can't love all theseother things that I used to
(10:01):
love, like playing soccer andplaying games and hanging out
with my friends and you know allthis stuff, right?
Because they were like, well,if I'm really loving God, then
that means that I can't loveanything else.
And what I would say?
Like you said, mom, with theSabbath, god gives us passions,
(10:22):
god gives us hobbies, god givesus things in life that give us
joy.
They aren't our ultimate joy,but God gives us creativity,
because he made us in his image,and gardening is a type of
creative activity where you canbring life to the soil, and I
think of people that like tocreate art.
(10:44):
You love doing art on yourSabbath, mom.
I know that it's a creative wayto express your God-given
talents.
It's a way to reflect his image, and I believe that God can be
honored in doing fun activities,if we're doing them to glorify
him, if we do it with him inmind and we give thanks and
(11:06):
praise.
Thank you, God for letting megarden.
Thank you, Lord, for giving methe ability to love art.
Thank you, God for letting meplay music, for being able to
write songs, for doing all ofthese fun things that do give me
rest.
I heard one woman say that shechallenged herself on the
Sabbath to not do these otheryou know, quote-unquote restful
(11:29):
things like binge-watchingNetflix or doom scrolling on
social media and TikTok, orgoing shopping at Marshalls and
TJ Maxx and buying everything toyour heart's delight.
I think that there are some funthings that we do that maybe
aren't actually spirituallyenriching.
We can say that they're notevil, but is it really giving
(11:52):
you a restful Sabbath issomething that I would ask
yourself.
If you're listening to thisright now and you're thinking
okay, I really want to engage ina time of restful Sabbath, what
does that look like for me?
Because I'm telling you,sometimes, when I want to do
things for fun, I just want togo to Marshalls and TJ Maxx.
I want to browse every singleaisle, pick up every nook and
(12:12):
cranny that I see there and getmyself a good deal.
But I would say that for me, amore restful Sabbath would be
slowing down, enjoying what Godhas already given me, tapping
into some of those creativeabilities that he's given me in
music, in art, photography,gardening, and being content and
(12:33):
satisfied with what he's givenme in music, in art, photography
, gardening, and being contentand satisfied with what he's
given me.
Ellen (12:39):
One thing, Taylor, that you touched on that is really
relevant, about making theSabbath too legalistic is
something that Jesus called outin Mark, chapter 2.
And I'm going to read verses 23to 28 so that we can just touch
on this a minute.
(12:59):
It says, "One Sabbath he wasgoing through the grain fields
and as they made their way, hisdisciples began to pluck heads
of grain And the Pharisees weresaying to him, 'Look, why are
they doing what is not lawful onthe Sabbath?
And he said to them 'Have younever read what David did when
he was in need and was hungry,he and those who were with him,
(13:23):
how he entered the house of Godin the time of Abiathar, the
high priest, and ate the breadof the presence, which it is not
lawful for any but the priestto eat.
'"This passage really struck home
with me because it gets to theheart of when rules overtake the
(14:02):
spirit of the law.
And I think in this particularexample, what we're looking at
is you know, the Pharisees werecalling out Jesus' disciples for
harvesting, threshing andwinnowing this grain from the
field, like that was an act ofwork and that that was going
(14:23):
against the law.
But he pulls out this examplefrom King David.
When David and his men weredesperate for food and
nourishment and because theirbodily needs transcended the
quote-unquote rule of the temple, he was given that bread, and I
(14:49):
think we have to just remindourselves that we don't want to
become like the Pharisees inbeing too much focused on that
and then, at the same time, toforget about human needs and be
conscientious of that as we dealwith other people.
(15:16):
Do you have any thoughts on that?
Taylor (15:17):
Yeah, it reminds me just of a simple phrase that I feel
like I heard a lot growing upand I still really adhere to
today is that God looks at theheart, And that applies to every
situation, every conversationyou have, everything you do in
public or in secret, whateverGod is looking at your heart,
and the same is true for theSabbath, and so if you are doing
(15:40):
something to honor and glorifyGod, god sees your heart.
I think of that other passagein John, where it just so
happened to be the Sabbath.
I think that this wasdefinitely intentional on Jesus'
part.
He's walking past a blind man.
He decides to acknowledge himand heal him.
(16:02):
So he spits on the ground, he'srubbing the dirt together in
his fingers and he makes mud,and he heals the blind man by
putting the mud on his eyes andhaving the blind man wash the
mud off.
What do the Pharisees do?
Oh, they are on Jesus so fastfor healing the blind man on the
(16:23):
Sabbath.
How ironic is it that thePharisees are really truly the
blind ones in the story, right?
The blind man is able to, inthe end.
Come and see Jesus for who heis, see Jesus's heart, see that
he is God.
The blind men I'm sorry, well,really, yes, blind men but the
(16:44):
Pharisees are so concerned abouttheir own self-righteousness,
so concerned about keeping theirown extra rules, that they
couldn't reflect on their ownheart, they couldn't see Jesus
for who he truly was, and thatveil was not taken from their
(17:04):
eyes for them to see who Jesuswas.
And, of course, these storiesare so relevant and important to
us today because it shows usthat you can be somebody who is
very religious, who thinksyou're doing all the right
Christian-y things, and trulyyour heart is hard for what God
wants for you in your life.
(17:25):
And I have found in myself thatI can be a lot like the
Pharisees in thinking, yeah, I'ma good Christian.
People think I'm a really goodChristian, but God sees through
my heart and sees.
You know, I have been spendinga lot of time watching Netflix
and I'm being on YouTube.
I spend a lot more time on myphone than I spend really
(17:48):
abiding in Christ, and that'sbeen on my heart as of lately.
I heard a horrifying statisticthat just about scared the pants
off of me, and that was thatnowadays, because of technology,
our phones, social media,everything people will spend on
the average, $1,000 a month, 10years of their life on
(18:11):
technology.
10 years of your life juststraight being on your phone.
And I heard that statistic.
I'm like I know that that'stalking about me.
I know that that's talkingabout me because, as much as I
am not proud about technologyand how that has very influenced
my life, I will be honest aboutit.
(18:33):
I would be afraid to see myscreen time, let's just say that
.
But I think that this isextremely relevant for the
Christian knowing, if you justsit and reflect as you're
listening to this, what would 10years of your life spent on
your phone?
How could that time be used tobe impactful for the kingdom of
God, for your growth in yourrelationship with him, for the
(18:56):
connection to other people, forusing the creative gifts that
God has given you and livingyour life to the fullest?
I was really struck by that.
Ellen (19:04):
Oh yeah, that is really a shocking statistic and, like
you said and like you said, it'sone of those things you learn
in economics there's theopportunity cost of what you
could have accomplished or doneor, like you said, help the
kingdom of God in that same timethat you were kind of doing
(19:25):
mindless activities.
So that's a good reminder forall of us, for sure.
One thing that I'd like to justtouch on briefly is there are
going to be seasons in your lifewhere it might be very
difficult to truly rest on theSabbath, and I'm thinking of,
(19:47):
like, a young mother who mightbe listening to this and
thinking, oh, it's just almostimpossible for me.
And I just want to encourageyou that number one, that is a
season.
And number two, if you aregoing to church, you are
spending time with God on thatSabbath day, and I would
(20:09):
encourage you.
If you don't have a body ofbelievers, that's a place where
you can go.
I know when we used to take ourkids to church when they were
young, just that time of lettingyou guys be with other kids and
learning about Jesus in thatsetting, and just that time.
I needed that time to worshipGod and sort of reset for my
(20:32):
week and other things too, thatyou can do is just planning
ahead, like.
One thing I decided was, onSaturdays, try to make twice as
much of one meal so that onSundays you don't have to cook a
whole 'nother meal or haveleftovers on Sunday or order in
(20:53):
on Sunday to just to give you alittle bit of a break from doing
some of those 'have to's'.
You know you have to take careof your children and that is
that's a gift from God that youare able to do that.
But don't be discouraged.
If you're feeling unrested,maybe you need to ask for help
(21:15):
too.
Taylor, what do you think aboutthat in terms of now that your
sister has a child and you see,like, how demanding it can be
every day of the week?
Taylor (21:40):
I am just floored by the amount of energy it takes for a
mother to be a mother and ofcourse, you're ignorant to that
when you're a kid, you're justliving your life.
But this past week I've been inIowa and I'm going to be here
for the next two weeks just kindof helping to babysit my sweet
little, adorable nephew, Theo.
And so I just babysit him acouple times a week for five
(22:03):
hours and, holy cow, does hetake the energy out of you.
He is like ready to play,zooming around constantly, you
know, laughing, smiling andlooking for you to see him and
affirm him and feed him andchange him, and I think about
(22:26):
Ashley and how.
You know I'm only doing this acouple days a week, but for the
busy moms out there, I'm like,wow, you need to be extremely
intentional about finding littlemoments to rest and I'm going
to say this, really intentionalabout asking for help, because I
(22:47):
mean, I know it's differentculture to culture depending on
where you're from.
A lot of cultures have thatbuilt in.
You know families around andyou're able to ask for help and
it's kind of this whole networkof taking care of each other and
making sure everybody hasmoments of rest.
I think for us, because we'reall spread out, it's difficult
to kind of offer that help toher.
(23:08):
So she has to make sure that shedevelops those relationships.
She has that with her in-lawsand they're able to take care of
Theo a couple days a week,which is really nice, and also
she has a mom's group at churchand a group of friends at church
that she can go to and havethat sort of spiritual renewing.
Conversations of other peoplewho are in similar stages of
(23:30):
life can relate to her, resonatewith her, but kudos to anybody
out there that is a mom rightnow, to any of you that are
listening that are in the stageof life where you are feeling
like you run ragged into theground and you are just waiting
for God to show you that he seesyou and that he wants to help
(23:54):
give you rest.
I think that that's a realplace that a lot of people are
in.
Honestly, even if you don'thave kids and your work is
running you ragged or school isor whatever, I'm thinking of you
all and praying that God willshow you his face and that he
will show you ways that you caneven in a little way experience
(24:17):
the renewing of a little bit ofSabbath time being with him and
slowing down.
Ellen (24:24):
Absolutely, you know.
I just want to, as we start toclose up this conversation, I
want to pull out and look atMatthew 11, 25 to 30, because I
think we need to take a look atyou know.
How does Jesus make soul restavailable to us?
And listen to this (24:44):
it says.
"At that time, Jesus declared Ithank you, father, lord of
heaven and earth, that you havehidden these things from the
wise and understanding andrevealed them to little children
.
Yes, father, for such was yourgracious will.
All things have been handedover to me by my Father, and no
(25:05):
one knows the Son except theFather, and no one knows the
Father except the Son and anyoneto whom the Son chooses to
reveal him.
Come to me all who labor andare heavy laden, and I will give
you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learnfrom me, for I am gentle and
(25:26):
lowly in heart, and you willfind rest for your souls, for my
yoke is easy and my burden islight.
How do those verses encourageyou, Tay.
And what would you say to thoselistening about this passage?
Taylor (25:43):
Yeah, run to Jesus.
That's my encouragement to youand that's my encouragement to
myself.
I think we can really kind oftrick ourselves into thinking
that we are rested when we spendtime on social media and spend
time watching TV and reallywe're left more empty than ever.
(26:07):
Really, we can only find truerest, true fulfillment, in the
person of Jesus, and that takesa willingness to take that step
forward into coming towards him.
My practical application for youin that is to set for yourself
a rhythm of prayer to come toGod and set intentional times
(26:30):
where you are going to havethese conversations with God.
The more you talk with God, themore the Holy Spirit is going
to stir in you to make Jesusmore and more a part of your
life.
And that might be the firststep for you in making time for
Sabbath, because taking time forthe Sabbath is gonna be hard
(26:53):
for a lot of us and you don'tnecessarily have to do it.
But what we do see is that theSabbath is so helpful.
God created it for us.
He created us with a need forrest and a rhythm to that rest.
Come to the Lord in prayer,give him your needs, show him
(27:15):
that you want him to guide yourheart towards abiding in him.
Ellen (27:23):
Well, thank you, Taylor, so much for joining me today.
For those that are listening, Ihope that you feel encouraged.
We want to challenge you thisweek to take time to rest.
This requires intentionalityand discipline, but it's a
(27:47):
beautiful way to build trust inGod's sovereignty and to savor
his presence in our lives.
So, Taylor, would you mind justclosing us in prayer for our
listeners?
Taylor (27:55):
Absolutely.
Dear Lord.
God, we thank you for this timeto talk about you, to be
blessed by your word and tothink about what it means to
rest in you.
God, I pray for all those whoare listening today that are
seeking you, desiring you thatyou would fill them with your
Spirit, renew in them a yearningand a fire to be passionate
(28:22):
about you and growing theirrelationship with you.
Give them opportunities to seehow they can incorporate rest
into their life.
Help them, Lord, to be stirredto do that starting this week
and to think about how they canspend time resting and filling
their cup up spiritually withyou.
(28:42):
Lord, we pray for this blessing.
We ask you to bless us s as wego about this week, Amen.
Ellen (28:52):
Amen, All right.
well, thank you so much fortaking time out of your day to
listen to our podcast.
We would love it if you wouldtell a friend about the Coffee
and Bible Time podcast.
Have a blessed day.
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