My Sabbath Symbol

One Sabbath morning, a few weeks ago, it occurred to me to reverse all three of my big decorative pillows to show the other side.  It was a single act that has become a meaningful habit.  My Sabbath symbol.  Every other day, six days a week, these three big pillows show a denim patchwork.   I love the various washes of blue.  I love the details that I worked so hard on, and the pockets and the contrasting shades of soothing color.  The denim impresses me as having a "just-as-I-am", everyday quality.  It makes me feel comfortable.  But on Sabbath, it's different.  It's special.  It's set apart. 

The fabric on the other side of the pillows presents a stylized, large floral design on a red background.  This is a fabric I loved at first sight.  It brings me joy.  It reminds me of a garden of delights.  More specifically, it reminds me of the Garden of Eden.  The place of perfection on earth.  The place of intimacy with the Creator.  The Paradise Lost.

Sin has stolen Paradise.  In big and little ways, I live daily with a sense of that awful loss.  But I am not without hope.  The restoration of Paradise is promised!   It's because of the sacrificial blood of the sinless One that I live in hope.  I am waiting, as I live in this interval.  I am living between Paradise Lost and Paradise to Come.

Sabbath is a day of remembering, a day of waiting, a day of  practicing.  It's a weekly rehearsal in which I rest and worship and wait, while spending time with the One I love, and with the ones He has given me to love.   Sabbath is preparation for Paradise.  The red floral side of these pillows is my Sabbath symbol of  Paradise.  Like a day set apart, the floral pillows grace my bed once a week.  With their blood-red background they remind me that my precious Savior has given His all.   For me!  For you!  He has paid the ultimate price through the sacrifice of His precious blood.  He has given me the promise of Paradise.

On Sabbath there is one more thing I do.  I switch around my stenciled pillows.  On Sabbath, the "His" and "Hers" pillows represent our ultimate covenant relationship.  Not our earthly marriage covenant, but our covenant before the LORD.   On Sabbath, "His" represents my husband's relationship to the LORD and "Hers" symbolizes my relationship to my LORD.  You may think this is all a bit much.  But this is how my mind works, so I just go with it.  It is meaningful to me, and I think it blesses my LORD's heart to know that these little things make me think of Him. 

The Sabbath:  A sign of the Covenant - "It is a sign between Me and the people of Israel forever."   Exodus 31:17

I am His and He is Mine

Here's my latest project.  The icing on the cake.  The final touch of my quilting project.  His and Hers stenciled pillows for my bed.  They may look simple enough but the project itself  was a bit labor intensive.  Made my own stencils using contact paper.  But there's more here than what meets the eye.

I've switched these pillows around from what you might expect, so that Hers is actually on Hubby's side of the bed, as if to say that "He is Hers", while on my side I am reminded that "I am His".  This is a picture of covenant.  We are bound to one another.  Through thick and thin, good times and bad, we have covenanted to walk through this life together.

 Recently I've learned a bit about covenants.  A covenant is a legally binding relationship between two or more parties.  Breaking a covenant comes with dire consequences, and if broken requires atonement.  I can't help but look at the blood-red pillow that sits between the Hers and His pillows and think of the cleansing blood of Christ that covers all of our sins and failures.

These pillows top off my Golden Rectangle Quilt, the quilt that reminds me of our covenantal relationship with the God who loves us.  In the quilt design, golden rectangles represent the Ark of the Covenant, that gold covered box that housed the legal covenant documents - the Ten Commandments.  The covenantal relationship between God and His chosen Beloved, is compared and contrasted to a marriage relationship.  What a beautiful image!  I love that God gives us human beings earthly images of heavenly realities.

I am my Beloved's and He is mine!