The Importance of Sabbath

Hello Friends!

This week we are diving into a subject that most people have heard about but may not necessarily be practicing in their daily lives. Although this is a commonly known subject, it is also a subject that you probably have not heard in relation to marriage. We are talking about the importance of observing Sabbath and taking time to intentionally rest.

What is Sabbath?

According to google sabbath is ~ “a day of religious observance and abstinence from work, kept by Jews from Friday evening to Saturday evening, and by most Christians on Sunday.”

In the most basic term, Sabbath is a time set aside to rest and recharge.

It is a time to cease from the never-ending list of demands on us and to simply lay them down for a set amount of time. Although this seems so simple, I believe we don’t realize how necessary it is. Rest is something we just do not do. However, it is so important that God not only tells us to do it, He also modeled it for us.

We see this idea of observing a day of rest very early in the Bible. God, Himself, modeled this for us in Genesis during Creation.

What Does Scripture Have to Say About Rest?

So, the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts (inhabitants). And by the seventh day, God completed His work which He had done, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.  So, God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it [as His own, that is, set it apart as holy from other days] because in it He rested from all His work which He had created and done. Genesis 2:1-4

In the above verses, we see God modeling the importance of rest. He is God. He does not get tired or overwhelmed. He didn’t take this time because He needed it. He did this as a model because He knew we would need to rest in order to lead happy, healthy lives. He not only made it a commandment in Exodus but He also took a lot of time to example it to the Children of Israel. Anytime God is super vocally about something we should really take notice. Let’s look at some verses where God spoke on the Sabbath.

He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord’; bake and boil what you will bake and boil [today], and all that remains left over put aside for yourselves to keep until morning.” They put it aside until morning, as Moses told them, and it did not become foul nor was it wormy.  Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none [in the field].” Exodus 16:23-25

“Remember the Sabbath (seventh) day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God).  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates. For in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes]. Exodus 20:8-11

Why Should We Rest?

We live in a world that is constantly demanding something from us. There is always something that needs to be done. The idea of rest is really a dying concept yet it is so vitality important for us and our relationships. Like I said earlier, I think we all know that we NEED to rest but we are being told it is not possible from every possible source, including ourselves.

We are led to believe that we can’t slow down. We can’t rest if we want to be successful and prosperous. Someone might get ahead of us. We are made to feel as if we will miss out on something and fall behind if we take the time to rest. The tension is tangible and so many people are feeling the effects of it. We were not created to constantly push ourselves and never rest.

Life Without Rest is Harmful

I googled the symptoms of fatigue and this is what I learned.

The lack of rest causes major problems for us on many different levels. We can suffer from physical ailments such as heart problems, high blood pressure, and strokes. A lack of rest can even affect your sex drive and will eventually kill it altogether. Mentality a lack of rest can cause depression, and your cognitive ability will start to slip the longer you go without stopping for a time. A lack of rest literally affects your skin and ages you quicker.

So not only are you a hot mess if you don’t rest but you will end up looking like a hot mess.

If you take the time to examine the people in your life and yourself, you can probably see the effects of not resting. God didn’t just tell us to rest so we would “consider” it from time to time. Sabbath is not only a Biblical concept, but it is beneficial for our overall wellness. It is something we must practice if we are going to be the best we can be.

Good Busy Can Turn into Bad Busy

At the root of our busyness is the desire to better ourselves and our families; however, it’s ourselves and our families that suffer a lethal blow from the unending pressures to never slow down.

It is usually the good things that get us bogged down. Jobs, obligations, finances, and even ministry are all things that are good but if we never stop can turn bad. When we are constantly running full speed, it is the people closest to us and the things that mean the most to us that get the least amount of us.

We may be working our tails off for the good of our families and for the good of the Kingdom, but are our families getting our best? Is our ministry getting the full impact of what we can do? Probably not! So not only is rest Biblical and beneficial for us on a physical level, but it is also good for us on a relational level and on a spiritual level.

I was told once that you can’t pour from an empty cup. You may be in the thick of good work; however, rest is still something that needs to happen so you can recharge. You need to refill so you can have something to give to yourself and the ones around you.

Sabbath and Our Marriage

Let’s focus on how practicing Sabbath can help us on a relational level. We all have a lot going on, there are a lot of things that we must do for ourselves and our families. We must go to work to have the resources we need. We need to go to church with our families to be spiritually fed. We must spend time with the ones we love to deepen those relationships. Sabbath is a way that we take time to recharge so all of those things get the very best version of us!

We know rest is Biblical and beneficial, but we also know it is hard to do, but how does practicing Sabbath help our marriage? Alex and I have been intentional about Sabbath for the last few months, and we can tell a difference not only in ourselves individually, but we have also seen a difference in our marriage.

Isn’t it funny that when we do things the way the Lord tells us to our lives get better? God told us to take the time to rest, so we should not be surprised that it works. When you make the decision to rest, both you and your spouse are recharging and refilling. Think about a phone, it works best when the battery is charged. We are no different. When we are running on a full battery we just handle things better and marriage is no exception. When you and your spouse are recharged and rested your marriage will see the positive effects.

It’s Biblical and beneficial but I get that it is also hard to put into practice. Below are a few intentional steps you can take to start making rest a priority in your life.

Practically Practicing Sabbath

Sabbath for the Paynes

Like I said before Alex, and I have just recently started this, and I want to be candid and say it was a struggle to start with. Both of us have been tempted to not take this time. There is always something that we could be doing. Let me share this with you though, since we have started practicing this nothing has fallen through the cracks. Honestly, we get more accomplished in 6 days then we did in 7 and we are happier while we do it.

When we started practicing Sabbath, we did it on Sunday because that works best for us. Let me give you an example of how it plays out.

Every Sunday we would go to church. So, from 7 am until 1ish we focus on that. As soon as church is over, we declare that it is official Sabbath. I literally make the declaration most Sundays as we are driving home from church. “Welcome to Sabbath, what does that look like today?” Typically, we eat lunch together and will talk about church. We discuss the sermon and what stood out to us. Then we either take a nap or watch a movie most times. On Sundays, we aren’t as strict on what we eat so we may enjoy some foods that we did not have during the week, or it may mean going out to eat and making it a little more special. If there is something that we want to do, we go and do it.

Update as for May 2023

Our Sabbaths have changed a lot since this writing. We now take a full day and we have actually moved it to Saturday.

We start our Sabbath on Friday night with a special dinner together. We pray over our meal and declare that Sabbath as begun. We talk through what happen the previous week that we are thankful for and enjoy the rest of the night. Saturday morning starts with us spending time reading the Bible together, then we spend the rest of the day enjoying whatever we want to do.

What Doesn’t Happen on Sabbath

Here is what we don’t do on during the Sabbath both then and now. We don’t talk about work or do anything that would be considered work and that includes the ministries that we are a part of. We don’t plan for small groups, and we don’t post on our ministry page. We choose to set those things aside until Monday morning and then we pick them back up.

Don’t miss the fact that this did not happen naturally. We had to be intentional about it and honestly for a while we did not practice it well and we felt the effects of it. We were tired, running on empty, and we took that out on each other. But when we started honoring this time, it has not only helped us physically but spiritually and relationally as well. Our health is better, and our marriage is better, and I believe we are walking out our calling better. We are just better all-around, and things are getting accomplish also.

Don’t buy into the lie that you cannot rest. Not only is it a lie, but it is also unbiblical! God gave us a model because He knows what is best for us!

You can do this!

We are praying for you!

Tagged