Leisure or Sabbath?

“Leisure and sabbath have much in common: They are both personally restorative, enjoyable, nonutilitarian, and playful. Though sabbath and leisure delightfully overlap, there are discernible differences. Leisure is a matter of personal choice; sabbath is divinely mandated (Exod. 20:8-11). Leisure is usually perceived as avocational – something we do alongside our vocation; sabbath is vocational – part of the response of our entire person to the call of God. Leisure is usually directed to self, while sabbath, which is also personally satisfying, is directed ultimately to the pleasure of God. Both are aesthetic, but leisure tends toward hedonism while sabbath invites contemplation. Sometimes we must admit that leisure is more of a diversion from sabbath than an experience of it.”
- The Equipping Pastor, Stevens and Collins, 1993, p. 86