When I was fourteen years old I learned how to drive in an old farm truck.

The truck drove as bad as it looked.  You had to turn the steering wheel a full 360 degrees before the truck would actually turn; and you had to pump the brakes before it would stop.

I drove the old truck around the farm, down dirt paths and through tobacco fields until the day finally came when my driving instructor declared me ready for the open road.

I can still feel the excitement as I turned on to highway 1010 in rural North Carolina and headed to my destination just two miles from the farm – the Grocery Boy, Jr.

As I entered the highway, I gradually eased up to 45 miles an hour and was driving along quite nicely until it was time to stop – I had forgotten how much time was needed to pump the breaks! By the time I got the old truck to stop, I had blazed through a stop sign and landed in the middle of a flower bed at the base of the Grocery Boy, Jr sign!

Now, I had not lived much at fourteen years of age, so there was not much life to flash before my eyes. But, as I looked over at my driving instructor, and saw his pale face and white knuckles, I could tell that he had just had a near death experience!

In that moment, we both came to the realization that we had overlooked a vital drivers’ education lesson – I had not learned how to properly stop the old farm truck on the open road!

Well, the reality for many of us is we have forgotten how to stop and enjoy the gift of Sabbath rest on the super highway of life.

If life wasn’t fast enough, thanks to ever-improving technology, we now feel the pressure to be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Yet, in the midst of our busy lives, God still whispers to our generation… “Remember the Sabbath”.

Allow these verses to refresh your memory….

• Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. Exodus 20:8-10

• On that day no one in your household may do any kind of work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. Exodus 20:10

• For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; then He rested on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. Exodus 20:11

• Remember the word of the Lord… “Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. You must keep the Sabbath day, for it is a holy day for you….The people of Israel must keep the Sabbath day by observing it from generation to generation. This is a covenant obligation for all time.” Exodus 31:13-14, 16

• You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the Lord’s Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever you live. Leviticus 23:3

• Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day. Deuteronomy 5:1-5

• Keep my Sabbath days holy, for they are a sign to remind you that I am the Lord your God. Ezekiel 20:12-13

Did you notice how many verses began with the word remember – almost as if God knew we would forget?

As you go about your ordinary, everyday life, “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.”

---

Major Susie Erickson is the Florida Divisional Secretary for Women’s Ministries.