We were created for unity—shalom (peace) with God and with those made in his image (Genesis 1:26; Acts 17:28; John 17:21–23).
Few experiences invite us to taste the heavenly unity of our citizenship in his kingdom quite like the Sabbath.
How the Sabbath Began
In the beginning, after God finished his creative work, he fashioned a rhythm of rest into the DNA of time. The seventh day was the finale of his artistry, and the first thing he declared to be holy (set apart) in the universe (Genesis 2:2–3).
This is the origin of Shabbat (the Sabbath). Much more than a spiritual discipline, this is a gift knit into the fabric of creation. It invites ALL of us into unity with a king who simply delights to be with us. This gift transforms how we move in this world. As Walter Brueggeman says, “People who keep the Sabbath live all seven days differently.”1
Sabbath Restoration
As a second-generation Jewish believer in Yeshua (Jesus), the Shabbat table is etched in my earliest memories, along with the other biblical feasts.
However, as I entered new seasons and church contexts, I realized practicing the Sabbath was not “normal.” My peers seemed to be doing ‘just fine’ without it, and my achiever tendencies wondered what might happen if I went without it, too. So . . . I walked away from Sabbath.
Sabbath became a memory until I was reading the creation story to my two young sons one night. It was like God had gently left a note on my table that said, “I made this for you” (Mark 2:27).
I was awakened to how weary, unrelaxed, disordered, and overbooked our life was. I had traded the freedom of rest in his presence for the bondage of conformity and achievement.
That evening, I saw that existing was not the same as living with the rested freedom available to me in him. Immediately, I turned around and retraced my steps back to the Sabbath table.
As our family began to practice the Sabbath together, we experienced what Brueggman articulated. When we began life from rest in him, the other days looked different.
I had traded the freedom of rest in his presence for the bondage of conformity and achievement.
What Is the Sabbath?
The Sabbath is a gift—it is a day set apart to rest in God’s presence, worship him, and experience a taste of our eternity.
Because God declared it to be set apart and blessed, it means that Sabbath is still Sabbath whether we choose to participate in it or not. By not participating in it, we only exclude ourselves from it and forfeit the blessing of refreshment and renewal it has to offer us.
John Mark Comer says, “Sabbath is coming for you, whether as delight or as discipline . . . Maybe that is why God eventually has to command the Sabbath . . . there is something about the human condition where we want to rebel against the limitations of time itself.”2
The Sabbath is a gift—it is a day set apart to rest in God’s presence, worship him, and experience a taste of our eternity.
Because of his love and desire for the good of his people, God commands them to do something deeply life-giving by codifying the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8–11).
It is here we recognize fully that the Sabbath is not the same as a “day off.” It is a day to know the Lord, a day to rest in his presence and worship. It is a special appointment with him (Leviticus 23).
It is one of the only commandments that provides a “why.” He talks about the beginning and his rest (the Hebrew word in the text is nu’ach, which conveys the idea of settling in and enjoying one’s kingdom). His Shabbat is delight, peace, and life as it is intended to be.
Yeshua (Jesus) was a perfect Sabbath-keeper. He had to be in order to fulfill his Messianic atonement for us (Hebrews 7:26–28). As you observe what Jesus does in Scripture on Sabbath days, you likely notice it was important to him that any lack or brokenness around him was restored.
Why Observe the Sabbath?
Because Sabbath is a taste of eternity, and there is no lack or brokenness in his kingdom. Wherever he went, the veil between heaven and earth was thin and the kingdom was spilling out. He did not break the Sabbath by healing or feeding people. He used God’s Word and the sages’ interpretations of Scripture to prove that positive commandments (like guarding the dignity and preservation of life) superseded any negative commandment (like a Sabbath prohibition) when they came into contact with one another (Mark 2; Matthew 12).
He honored the Sabbath so much that he showed us what it means to experience it not through a lens of legalism, but through a lens of hope. His kingdom will be marked by universal peace, satiation, abundance, and delight.
In our discipleship, Sabbath not only renews and refreshes us, but it also reorders us. It takes everything we encounter on a weekly basis, and it right-sizes and reprioritizes what we encounter and carry. It gets not only our eyes, but also our entire selves, fixed on hope and revealing hope to the world. Because of this, we begin to live all the other days differently.
How Can We Observe the Sabbath?
Isn’t this day just for the Jewish people? Though they have been entrusted by God to keep the Sabbath holy, the establishment of Sabbath in the beginning highlights the invitation and intention for all creation to experience this gift.
Didn’t Jesus abolish the Law and the Sabbath? No, he brought it to fullness (Matthew 5:17). He not only perfectly obeyed the Law during his life on earth (something we came up empty on), but he also revealed its deeper meanings and made it possible for mankind to be brought into eternal fellowship with God.
How does this work in real life? If we remember that his yoke is easy, we can realize this day to be more liberating than it is challenging to practice.
Embrace the Sabbath
Reframing thoughts that might help us embrace the gift of Sabbath:
- Start where you are at, not where you think you should be. Don’t stress the how, just begin. In personal experience, there is heavenly wisdom in a full 24 hours of rest. It takes a bit for your whole self to throttle down . . . so that full 24 hours is richer because you have the space to settle in.
- Remember it is a gift, not a burden. Viewing it through the grid of “what can’t I do” will be an exercise in missing the joy and missing the point (and legalism). Ask can questions . . .
What can you do to set your mind on things above?
What can you do to create an environment of worship and delight?
What can you do to be about your Father’s heart of healing and restoration?
- Embrace subtraction. To receive Sabbath, you will inevitably need to say no to something. This may feel challenging to begin with, but the Lord truly does multiply abundantly as we are seeking his kingdom first.
As you claim the gift inherent in Sabbath-keeping, may the Lord bless you and keep you, and may the table you return to be covered in peace.
Looking for more resources to practice the Sabbath? Check out this Sabbath for Families Guide.
- Walter Brueggemann, Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2014), 43. ↩︎
- John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook, 2019), 143–76. ↩︎
