Jenni's Story: Jesus Is My Sabbath

I have just about the best family in the whole world. My mom and I can actually talk about stuff.  My dad is someone I admire and trust. I know he’ll always be there for me. I grew up Adventist in the middle of the U.S. with lots of family friends and great times. I attended the local SDA elementary school, then the Academy. We usually got together with other families from church on Sabbath afternoons to have picnics or go on hikes. When the sun went down, we played Rook.

My parents were mad about music, so my brother and I both played the piano and took voice lessons. When we got together for sundown worship with other families we played and sang together. I loved it. Dad was a teacher at our school and mom was a stay-at-home mom who did everything I thought a mom should do.

So, imagine my shock when my parents started to talk about their new understanding about the Sabbath. They were talking heresy! I didn’t know what to say or think. All that came to mind was that my dad would get kicked out of the school, wouldn’t have a job and we would be poor. I’d lose all of my friends and be really embarrassed.  I was mad. I begged him not to tell anyone else what he was thinking or he would ruin my life.

Besides, they had told me all of my life that Jesus had created the world with the Sabbath. I learned the song in Sabbath School, “One, two, three, four, five, six for me. The Seventh is for Jesus.” How come they were changing the rules now? What had changed? Over time, I saw that what had changed was them. They had changed. Before, they would talk about Adventists they knew from the colleges where they when to school. They would pray prayers that always sounded the same and would read the Bible out loud to us with the same monotone every day. Now, they prayed like they were talking to a person. They would read the Bible and stop and talk about things that they said God had shown them. Weird.

It seemed strange to me that they would be talking to God like they really loved Him now - when they had decided that the Sabbath wasn’t a Christian duty. Those two things didn’t go together in my head. By this time I was 17, old enough to open my Bible and read for myself. I found some of their notes with texts on them and began there. I was so surprised to find that the Bible really does say that the Ten Commandments were the “ministry of death.” 2 Cor 3:7 It also dawned on me that all of the emphasis on the importance of the Law wasn’t really an interest in anything but the fourth commandment. The words, “obedience” and “law” were really substitute words for “The Sabbath.”

With all of the focus on keeping the law, I had to ask myself, “How could that be good news? Do they really want to be held to that standard? Isn’t it much better news to know that I am a sinner, and no amount of law-keeping on my part could secure a place for me in Heaven?  But Jesus did it for me.” I found the scripture that says, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24 (NIV) HAS eternal life. This was something I needed to understand. So I began to really study.

My family and I did eventually leave – but instead of ruining my life, it opened my heart to Jesus. He is now more important to me than a day could ever be. He is my Sabbath rest every day of my life. Oh, by the way, there is life after Adventism – full, happy, deep Christ-centered life.