Making Room for the Sabbath

Growing up on our family ranch, I watched my father practice the principle of the Sabbath—not just in his personal life, but even in the way he worked the land. Our ranch stretched across more than 400 acres, and he divided it into seven sections. Every seventh year, one section of land rested.

To our neighbors, this seemed ridiculous. Some laughed outright. “Ed, why would you leave such productive land unplanted? That’s money left sitting in the soil. What a waste!”

But year after year, our fields outproduced theirs. Eventually, the neighbors came asking, “Ed, what’s your secret?”

Dad would smile and answer simply: “I let every field have a time to rest.”

They would roll their eyes. Some even accused him of holding back. But the truth was plain: simple obedience to God’s Word brought blessing.

And it makes me wonder—if God cares enough to give the land rest, how much more does He care about giving you rest? 

Jesus explained it in Mark 2:27 (NKJV):
“The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”

God didn’t design man to serve the Sabbath. He designed the Sabbath to serve man. If rest weren’t important, He would have created a six-day week. But He didn’t. He built a rhythm into creation: six days of work and one day of rest.

The Sabbath is not a burden—it’s a blessing. Not a rule to restrict us, but a rhythm designed to restore us. A Father who loves His children so deeply that He commands them to rest.

The Sabbath works much like tithing. Tithing teaches us that God can do more with 90% surrendered to Him than we could ever do with 100% kept for ourselves. The same applies to time: God can do more in six days of surrendered work than we could ever accomplish in seven days of striving.

Chick-fil-A has become the most famous modern example. Nearly every other fast-food restaurant is open seven days a week, some 24/7, averaging $2–4 million in sales per year. Chick-fil-A closes every Sunday. Yet they average over $8.5 million per store—more than double the industry standard.

That’s not coincidence. That’s blessing.

Exodus 31:16 calls the Sabbath a “perpetual covenant.” Why? Because God Himself modeled it.

For six days, He spoke galaxies into existence. He spoke the stars into place. He filled oceans, raised mountains, brought forth plants and animals, and breathed life into man.

But on the seventh day, He stopped.

Not because He was weary—but to model the rhythm. The Hebrew word for “refreshed” literally means to catch one’s breath. For six days, God breathed out. On the seventh day, He breathed in.

If the Creator of the universe paused to breathe, what makes us think we don’t need to?

Scripture is clear: honoring the Sabbath brings life, but ignoring it brings destruction. In Numbers 15:32–36, a man was put to death for gathering sticks on the Sabbath. To us, it seems extreme—but God was illustrating the seriousness of neglecting rest.

Just like murder destroys life and adultery destroys marriages, ignoring the Sabbath destroys health, families, and souls.

And while no one today is stoned for Sabbath-breaking, many are slowly killing themselves through stress, anxiety, exhaustion, and burnout.

   •   If you murder, you lose your freedom.

   •   If you commit adultery, you lose your marriage.

   •   If you ignore the Sabbath, you lose your health.

God is serious about rest—because He is serious about you.

Romans 14 reminds us that each believer may observe a different day. My Sabbath is often Monday. Yours may be Saturday, Sunday, or another day. The day isn’t the point—the principle is.

The most common question I hear is: “What do I do on the Sabbath?”

But that’s the wrong question. The real question is: “What do I not do?”

And the answer is simple: don’t do the things tied to your work. Sabbath is not idleness—it is intentional rest, renewal, and worship.

Some dismiss it as outdated. But would we say murder is outdated? Or adultery? Or stealing? Of course not. Then why do we treat the fourth commandment as optional?

When you break it, you pay for it—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But when you honor it, you receive blessing that can only come from God.

Hebrews 4:9–11 (NIV) declares:
“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest…”

God’s command to rest is not a punishment—it’s an invitation. His way of saying: “You don’t have to carry the weight of the world. Let Me restore you. Let Me breathe new life into you.”

So here’s the challenge: Establish your Sabbath. Guard it. Protect it. Honor it.

And then, watch how God blesses your other six days in ways you never thought possible.

Because the Sabbath isn’t about losing time—it’s about gaining life.