Being raised in a Jamaican home led by devout Christians was a sure way of putting the brakes on any overactive child who was unfamiliar with the significance of keeping the Sabbath holy. We had no choice. We knew pretty early that God was the star of his own day. As kids, we just couldn’t understand why God needed the whole day. Wasn’t he busy?  

What Does the Bible Teach About the Sabbath?                 

Most Christians have concluded that God himself was the first to observe the Sabbath. “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” (Genesis 2: 2-3). The overreaching conclusion is, if God rested from his normal routine of speaking our world into creation, we are obligated, at the very least, to follow his lead. Refrain from your daily activities, like your nine to five job and anything that brought you carnal pleasure. A.J. Swoboda’s Subversive Sabbath, The Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World is a delightful read on the topic.

According to an article written by Missionary Missy Takano, she points out that there are two Hebrew words representing rest in the Scriptures — shabbat and nuakh. Shabbat simply means to cease from work while nuakh is to settle, dwell, and have a resting place. Why are these aspects of the Sabbath essential for us today? When we shabbat and nuakh, we stop what we’re doing and focus (settle in) on becoming true worshippers of a worthy God. True worshippers of God reserve a special resting place in their hearts for the things of God, and that strengthens our overall wellbeing, leading to an abundant life. Christ reminds us, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4: 23-24).  

Sundays like every other day should serve as a reminder that we worship a God who is carefully navigating our lives, and that should bring us peace. The institution of “church” should serve as a place where we settle in with the community of believers, and grow in our faith. For spiritual and emotional wellbeing, we need to find rest in this way. Our current eclectic lifestyles have evolved to a point where Sundays are no longer the only day churches open their doors for services. This is part of the truth that Christ speaks about in his foretelling of things to come. If you possess a heart for God, you are always focused on the things of God. Your entire walk is committed to worshiping God. 

Observing the law of the Sabbath was a challenge for God’s people in the Old and New Testament. However, Jesus came to relieve that burden, exchanging it for freedom in Him. Takano writes, “Jesus hoped to redefine the meaning of Sabbath for them. The people were in need of rest, both in ceasing from hard work (shabbat) and being present together with God (nuakh). Jesus ushered in the promise and reality of both.”

In Matthew 11: 28-30 He offers this, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” 

Do Christians need the Sabbath? The answer is yes! God designed it this way from the beginning. He knows what we need for abundant living in Him — to rest our bodies and dwell in commune with Him so we can focus on Him, worship Him with our lives, and reach the world for Him.

Younger me certainly didn’t understand the abundant spiritual wellbeing associated with observing the Sabbath, but my mother instilled its importance her way, by retelling a story of her youth. She recalled how her youngest brother, Timothy, (Uncle TT), who felt he had the earned the right to have his perspective about Sabbath-keeping. So early one fateful Sunday morning, he ‘padded’ up with his teammates for a game of cricket before ‘Papa’ awoke. Poor Uncle TT, his first day out, so the story goes, first pitch at bat, was struck in the face by a violent, wayward pitch that left him concussed and instantly toothless. My uncle would be a human billboard for all the world to see what happens when we become sacrosanct towards the things of God. A reminder Uncle TT would carry with him well into his adult years.

On any given Sunday, if my mother sensed we were entertaining the idea of participating in any of the many extracurricular, she would draw on her not-so-secret weapon of Uncle Timothy’s fateful, toothless Sunday morning. 

As Christians, we know every day is the Lord’s Day. “But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence .”(1Peter3:15)

Let’s consistently set time apart to embrace the abundant wellbeing He offers. All other reasoning for making Sundays holy and why we must observe the Sabbath is toothless…Believe.

Helpful Resources

1. Missy Takano, “Keeping the Sabbath: Is it Still Relevant to Christians Today?” (Blog), BibleProject.com, January 6, 2020, Accessed 10/10/2020, https://bibleproject.com/blog/keeping-the-sabbath-is-it-still-relevant-to-christians-today/

 2. A.J. Swoboda, Subversive Sabbath, The Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World, Brazos Press, 2018