While walking my kids home from school on a recent Friday afternoon, my sense of hurry was interrupted by an honest and sincere question from my five-year-old daughter, who was walking very slowly behind me. Her cute little voice pierced through the wind and asked, “Daddy, why did God create the weekend?” While coming up with an answer about our need for rest and how God created a specific day for that very purpose, my heart felt the sweet yet stinging conviction of the Spirit over my busy and cluttered soul. I realized I had once again been neglecting the age-old gift of Sabbath. Avoid harmful busyness and escape burnout.

We live in a world where we feel pressured to work nonstop, which has led many to burnout. Followers of Jesus are not exempt. Constant busyness in ministry often hides behind religious zeal seeking to justify the tiredness—but results in exhaustion. I’ve heard many well-meaning Christians exclaim, “The devil never takes a day off, so neither can we.” But what if that is one of the reasons the devil is the devil? I’ve also often heard that “the world (or even the church) is run by tired people, and we can rest when we get to heaven.” But what if this lack of rest is a key reason why the world (and sometimes the church) is in such a mess and lacking in heavenly-mindedness?

I trust I’m not alone. But there is another way.

Our sovereign Lord and Creator has already prescribed a rhythm for His children that is perhaps more counterintuitive and countercultural than ever before, but that we desperately need to recover.

A Counterintuitive Path to Holiness

Sabbath’s origin, of course, is rooted in creation, established and blessed by God as a holy day of rest.

Genesis 2:3 recounts, “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested (sabbathed) from all his work that he had done in creation.” As we think about returning to this holy day prescribed by our heavenly Father, it is helpful to think about Sabbath in the context of the four Hebrew translations of the word “Shabbat.”^[1] Each of these words are also to be viewed through the lens of the holiness of God, who set apart this day as a gift and conduit to produce His holiness in and through us. And holiness is never in a hurry.

A Holy “Stop”

The root of the Hebrew word for Sabbath literally means to cease or to stop. The idea is to stop working, stop thinking about working, set aside the to-do list with all our worries and wants. Pastor Rich Villodas describes Sabbath as a literal 24-hour period with no shoulds, have to’s, or oughts that, over time, leads to a deep rest for our souls.

A Holy “Rest”

The main idea here is that we engage our whole person in rest. We rest physically by withdrawing from physically demanding tasks. We sleep. As a father of three kids, sometimes God miraculously gifts us with a nap on these days! We also rest mentally and emotionally. We seek to calm down, relax, and process the week with God and others. We also rest spiritually. Sabbath is a day to release our souls to our Savior and abide in His steadfast love.

Sabbath is a day to release our souls to our Savior and abide in His steadfast love.

A Holy “Delight”

The Sabbath day is one in which God’s people ought to delight in the various good gifts given to us as His children. We have a holy liberty to “pamper” our souls with life-giving recreation, eating good food, playing with our kids, or spending time with treasured friends. Because of the blessing of Sabbath, we can have a holy indulgence in God’s good gifts that spark wonder, joy, and gratitude.

Because of the blessing of Sabbath, we can have a holy indulgence in God’s good gifts that spark wonder, joy, and gratitude.

A Holy “Worship”

In sabbathing we recalibrate our attention and affections upon the one who is seated upon the throne of heaven and upon our hearts. We surrender our past week as we anticipate the coming week. However, it is crucial to note that we do not practice Sabbath as a way to reward ourselves for a hard week of work, and to then reboot for another hard week of work. Instead, we Sabbath to resist the idol of productivity and to check our hearts so that we are not worshipping our work, but rather worshipping God in our work.

In sabbathing we recalibrate our attention and affections upon the one who is seated upon the throne of heaven and upon our hearts.

A Step Toward Holiness

God designed the Sabbath as a gift of rest, composed of stopping, resting, delighting, and worshiping. What would it look like to receive and practice, by faith, a weekly Sabbath? As my family and I have sought (with much struggle) to observe a weekly 24-hour period with no have to’s, shoulds, or oughts, we have begun to experience the powerful and replenishing rest that the Lord intends to provide through the Sabbath. And more recently, my walks to and from school with my kids have been a little less hurried, and my crowded and busy soul is more often relishing this counterintuitive path to holiness and peace.

God designed the Sabbath as a gift of rest, composed of stopping, resting, delighting, and worshiping.

Copyright © 2024 Justin Jeppesen. All rights reserved.

^[1] Adapted from John Mark Comer’s chapter on Sabbath in his book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.