Sabbath: The Highlight of Your Week

Envision this: It's a Monday morning in January, and you're feeling stressed because you have a math test that you don't feel prepared for. To make matters worse, sixth grade in general has been the pits. However, your stress is unexpectedly lifted when you notice a foot of snow on the ground outside your window. You quickly rush downstairs to turn on the local news station, but your sibling has already beaten you to it. Together, you eagerly wait for the name of your school district to scroll across the bottom of the screen. When you see the words "School Closed," you both jump and scream with joy! Although your parents don't seem as excited as you are, it doesn't matter. It's a snow day!

Due to the inability to drive anywhere, suddenly there is no school work, no tests, and no stress. There is only movie-watching, snowball-fighting, hot cocoa-drinking delight.

What is A Sabbath?

Pay attention to the feelings that this picture of a snow day just evoked. Remembering the relief of not being able to work and simply enjoying life instead. Would you believe that God actually wants that for you one day every single week? In Pete Scazzero's book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, a snow day is the illustration he gives of what a Sabbath is supposed to emulate. His point is that more than just a day of not working, it should be the highlight of your week.

So, what is God’s definition of a Sabbath? When we look at the creation story in the Bible, we see that God spent 6 days creating the heavens and earth and every living creature. And then, on the 7th day, He rested. God even made it a commandment for us to follow this example. The only specifications of a Sabbath day are that it is set apart for God, and free from work. This means it can be any day of the week and it can look different for everyone! 

The Challenge We’re Facing

In our society, the values of "hustle" and workaholism are highly regarded, often at the expense of good rest. In fact, Anne Helen Petersen, a writer for BuzzFeed, called Millennials the "Burnout Generation" due to the overwork and stress that so many of them are carrying. But I don’t think the preceding or following generations are much different. 

When facing adversity like an economic recession, crippling school debt, compounded by the comparison trap set for us by social media to “keep up with the Jones,’” it’s no wonder adults find it so difficult to allow themselves a day of complete rest. When you feel the weight of the world to perform and provide at optimum levels at all times, it’s near impossible not to feel guilty for being unproductive. In his book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry John Mark Comer puts this idea so succinctly, “Due to our immaturity, dysfunction, and addiction, God has to command his people to do something deeply life-giving– rest.” 

The Good News

God did not create us to operate this way. What is wonderful about the Sabbath is that it reminds us of 3 crucial things about our humanity: 

1. We were created to be human beings, not human doings. Pete Scazzero provides a refreshing perspective, "We have been called out of a world trying to prove its worth and value by what it does or possesses. We are deeply loved by God for who we are, not for what we do." Take a moment just to rest in that. 

2. The world keeps spinning without us. We have to trust that God keeps working while we are resting. Sabbath keeps our "control freak" in check. 

3. We are finite beings. God made our bodies to need rest and enjoyment, and to be dependent on Him. The sooner we accept this reality, that we have to have limits, the sooner we can get to a place of better health.

The Best Day Ever

Hopefully, you don't need to be convinced further of your need to implement a weekly rhythm of Sabbath rest. Ask yourself how to challenge and to level up with how you take advantage of God’s commandment to stop and be. Think back to that visual of a snow day and what is so great about it. As kids, we didn’t take that opportunity to clean our room and brush up on our times tables (no judgment if you did). Instead, we played! We had fun! We did something we enjoyed!

The Sabbath won’t look the same for everyone. Your 24-hour block might be in the middle of the week. It may include organizing the basement because that gives you joy and energizes you for the coming week. You may not be able to rest completely because you have young children or an aging parent to care for. No need to be legalistic, God cares more about our desire to set this day apart for refreshment and time with Him- no matter what that looks like. 

So, do the Marie Kondo test and filter everything you do through the question, “Does this spark joy?” If it doesn’t, then boot it to another day. Sabbath is for delight.

Additional Resources

Want to go deeper?

For more content on the importance of Sabbath keeping:

BOOKS: Three highly recommended books on spiritual disciplines-

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Pete Scazzero
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
The Body Teaches the Soul by Justin Whitmel Earley

Stay Connected!

Grow in your faith every week. Subscribe for blog updates straight to your inbox.