“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” — Exodus 20:8-11 (ESV)
During busy work schedules and packed homework days, it can be challenging to dedicate a day to rest. Each day is measured by how much we get done, rather than how intentionally we live that day. The Sabbath offers a different perspective and an opportunity to pause our schedules to prioritize time with God.
As Christians, we know that Sunday is a day for church service and worshipping God. The early Christians were former Jews who continued to observe the same religious rites they had grown up with, including the Sabbath. Shabbat is the Hebrew word for Sabbath (spelled שַׁבָּת), which means ‘to cease.’ As soon as we think of ‘ceasing’ from everything we have to do, our first impulse is to reschedule or find time for important tasks. Azusa Pacific University’s Honors College supports this practice of honoring the Sabbath by setting Saturday evening homework deadlines, intentionally encouraging students to finish their work on Saturdays so they can rest and spend time with God on Sundays. Taking a day for rest and worship makes it easier to entrust everything that keeps us busy to God. In the same way that God stopped from His work on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2-3), we are called to do the same.
The Sabbath reminds us that we do not have to spend every moment accomplishing something for our lives to have value. Rest allows us to recognize our dependence on God and trust that the world does not rest entirely on our shoulders.
Good practices to prepare for the Sabbath are:
- Finishing all your homework by Saturday at 6 p.m.
- Setting aside your phone to limit distractions.
- Planning church attendance and prayer time in advance.
- Paying attention to the people and blessings we often overlook.
Ultimately, the Sabbath is not about stopping as a procrastination tactic, but rather about remembering our joy in the Lord. The Sabbath invites us to slow down long enough to appreciate how God has worked in our lives and carry that perspective with us into the rest of the week. In a world that constantly tells us to keep going, sometimes one of the most faithful things we can do is pause.