Discovering the Gift of Time

Home
Free Resources
The Sabbath Blog

The Citrus Chronicle in Florida published an article entitled “Sabbath rest 101” by Nancy Kennedy, and it’s worth a read—even by longtime seventh-day Sabbath keepers.

Kennedy shares her recent acquaintance with the idea of Sabbath as time to rest from normal daily work and how challenging it can be for new believers to adopt it into their routine of demanding daily schedules.

Her journey in understanding the Sabbath has just begun, but she has concluded that Sabbath is a gift, rather than a burden that gets in the way of our lives. In understanding why God provided us with such a gift, she has cleared an important hurdle that every Sabbath keeper needs to clear.

In Genesis chapter 2, God finished His work and set aside the Sabbath as holy time to rest from work, to spend with Him, and to build better human relationships. Then in Exodus, we see this theme of sacred time reiterated in the Ten Commandments. The fourth one clearly reminds us to “remember” this time set apart by God. In Ezekiel 20:20, God identified the Sabbath as a sign of His relationship with us—meaning how we spend that time reflects our value of who He is and His desire to be in relationship with us.

Because Sabbath is so important to our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, God often had to provide specific directions about how to spend this holy time. In Exodus, we are told to rest from our normal, everyday activities. This rest includes every social class and even animals. What a gracious God! In our busy lives, He has set aside time that we can spend without feeling guilty about the things we aren’t doing. God’s desire is for us to take delight in Him and in His holy day (Isaiah 58:13, 14).

The famous Jewish author Abraham Joshua Heschel writes about the Sabbath as a “Sanctuary in Time.” That is, time set aside, available to anyone, anywhere. It provides each of us the opportunity to take time with the Creator, to rest in His love, to find peace in following His commands. Let’s thank God for revealing the meaning of the gift of Sabbath to precious souls like Nancy Kennedy—and pray that the rest of us experience it more deeply.

Are you struggling to keep the Sabbath? Get help by clicking here.

What about the seventh year and the year of jubilee?

Where's the Evidence That the Sabbath Was Changed?

The Sabbath Through History

What day is the Sabbath day?

Comments

When you post, you agree to the terms and conditions of our comments policy. Click here to read it.

If you have a Bible question for Pastor Doug Batchelor or the Amazing Facts Bible answer team, please submit it by clicking here. Due to staff size, we are unable to answer Bible questions posted in the comments.

To help maintain a Christian environment, we closely moderate all comments.

Please be patient. We strive to approve comments the day they are made, but please allow at least 24 hours for your comment to appear. Comments made on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday may not be approved until the following Monday.

Comments that include name-calling, profanity, harassment, ridicule, etc. will be automatically deleted and the invitation to participate revoked.

Comments containing URLs outside the family of Amazing Facts websites will not be approved.

Comments containing telephone numbers or email addresses will not be approved.

Comments off topic may be deleted.

Please do not comment in languages other than English.

Please note: Approved comments do not constitute an endorsement by the ministry of Amazing Facts or by Pastor Doug Batchelor. This website allows dissenting comments and beliefs, but our comment sections are not a forum for ongoing debate.

Articles

Christ, in fulfilling the moral law, abolished it.

Related Articles

Comments

Articles

Christ, in fulfilling the ...

Sabbath Is a Day of Rest ...

The Day of the Sun

Doesn't Colossians 2:14 wipe ...

Project 2025: Should Employees ...