We are all subject to burnout physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually when we don’t take time to rest. We will never be able to enter into natural rest until we first learn to enter into spiritual rest. When we believe the Word of God and mix faith with it, we enter into spiritual rest. From the beginning, God set a pattern for His creation to follow. He created the world and all that is in it in six days and on the seventh day He rested. He modeled His plan for His creation to pause and remember that life and meaning for living are found only in Him – our Creator God.

Of all the Ten Commandments, observing the Sabbath is the least understood and most disobeyed by humankind.  God’s command for Sabbath obedience is for the purpose of drawing His creation to a more intimate relationship with Himself. In Exodus 20:8-11, the fourth commandment is linked to creation: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work…For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” The emphasis is on God’s sovereignty over all the created order and His desire for intimacy with mankind.

We need to be sure we are not trusting in our own efforts and repent of neglecting the discipline of setting aside one day each week to look up and be restored and refreshed in spirit, soul and body. Our health as individuals and teams, and the health of our ministry depend upon our faithfulness to obey God’s commands. We all know people who have simply burned out and compromised their health by not taking time to rest from their labors. Truly, obedience to Sabbath rest is better than sacrifice. It requires discipline to set aside time for personal and corporate worship and to make time to read, reflect and respond to the Word of the Lord. It is the quiet place of internal stillness and rest where we learn to listen and hear God above all the other demands for our time.

We must seek wisdom and discernment to understand whether we are resting in God or trusting in our own works. We know that we must pause and take time to cultivate the health of our spirits, souls and bodies, but most Christians have changed the Sabbath to mean “day off.” The Christian “Sabbath” (Sunday) is often the most hectic day of the week for people in ministry. Some leaders have realized that another day of the week must be taken as a day of rest and restoration. The words seven, Sabbath and rest are all the same basic word in Hebrew, Shabbat. Many believers have found delight in taking the seventh day, Saturday, as their set aside time.

“If because of the Sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, And shall honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure, And speaking your own word, Then you will take delight in the Lord, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”   Isaiah 58:13-14                                                 

The principle of Sabbath (Shabbat) in the New Testament focuses on the reason for its observance, which is to protect us from falling away from the faith. Hebrews 4:1, 9-11:

“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it…There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of (Israel’s) disobedience.”

 It is through entering the rest of God that we get to know the God of rest. The Sabbath principle is in itself the foundation for a life of increased holiness and spiritual sensitivity. It is the discipline of coming away and intentionally seeking to lay hold of the Sabbath rest of God. In Hebrews 4, the Sabbath is associated with a clear call to enter the “rest of salvation” through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Keeping the Sabbath is not an act of religious duty, but an act of humble confidence in the saving grace of Christ. Jesus showed the religious leaders of His day the heart and purpose of the commandment when He delivered people from demons, healed the sick and crippled and took walks on the Sabbath. Mark 2:23-3:6 includes the statement by Jesus to His disciples, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath,” but He did not cancel the observance of the Sabbath.

The understanding of the call to rest from labor and cease from work speaks of more than simply not doing certain things. The commandment is telling us not to focus on our lives or worry about the future. It is much more than physical rest and refreshing. In our lifestyle of orientation toward achievement and productivity, it takes discipline to find meaning and joy in the simple things of life, to appreciate quietness and seek after godliness with contentment, which is great gain according to I Timothy 6:6. We are not to over-emphasize planning and building, but to put ourselves into the hands of God, trusting Him to order our steps according to His plan for our lives.

More than just a day off, the Sabbath is a day consecrated to the Lord. It does not have to be a glum religious exercise, but can be full of life, family, friends and refreshment. But, it must be a day apart from work, given to enjoy the Lord and the blessings He provides.” Our circumstances often scream out something different and sometimes we may experience rest in one area of our life, but not in another. Rest is sometimes achieved in stages and progression, but every area we conquer means more spiritual rest.               

Rob Stearns, founder of Eagles Wings Ministries, believes the principle of the Sabbath is parallel to the principle of the tithe. In tithing we declare that 90% of our income, blessed by God, will go farther and be more effective to meet our needs than 100% used in disobedience. In honoring the Lord with a Sabbath day apart, consecrated to Him, we declare that our lives are more productive in six days when we enter into the God-appointed rhythm of observing the Sabbath, demonstrated to us by God Himself in creation. A living understanding of keeping the Sabbath holy is a powerful witness that the Kingdom of God has come in our lives.

This is a reminder to purpose in your heart to faithfully practice a Sabbath day when you set aside your agenda, expectations and desires and simply give yourself to the Lord, to spend more time in personal worship and quiet reflection to make yourself available to clearly hear the voice of God, to bask in His presence and enjoy intimacy with our Creator God, the Blessed Controller of all things.