The Sabbath is a time to unplug from our vocational work. The author of Hebrews writes that we have to labor diligently to enter God’s rest (Hebrews 4:11). We have to work hard at disconnecting from what we do the other six days and really enjoy the release and peace that God has designed for us on this holy day. 

“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.” (Ex 20:8-10)

Man was created by God for work (Gen 2:15). For the Christian, life without work is meaningless; but work must never become the meaning of one’s life.

Work is one of the primary means by which we fulfill our true purpose: to glorify God, serve the common good and further God’s Kingdom. God reminds us of this on the seventh day of creation.

At the end of the creation story we read,

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.

God rested not because he was tired, but because he had “completed his work” (Gen 2:2). God wanted to teach us that work is not an end in and of itself. This is why he instituted the Sabbath. God repeats this idea again in the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:8-11).

Today we are taught by a culture that views work as an end in itself. It is what supplies our identity and gives meaning to our lives by maximizing success and money through our labor. Our work is never done, and the constant drive to prove ourselves destroys our ability to find rest.

This distortion of work’s purpose cripples our chances of finding true joy and fulfillment in our work. When divorced from God, all work degenerates into pure self-centered ambition.

How then does the Sabbath deliver us from always feeling stressed, exhausted, and running on empty?

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