“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Isaiah 58:13-14
The Sabbath is not heard from the pulpits as much as it probably should be. It is a major concept in the Old Testament and finds numerous comments in the New Testament, including a whole chapter ostensibly devoted to it in Hebrews chapter four. At its root, it means “rest”. To participate in the Sabbath means you are not only ceasing from what is conventionally seen as “work” or expending physical energy, but it carries with it a cessation from “striving”. That is why the Hebrew writer, I believe, was inspired to use the word, “rest”. Physical rest, for example, is needed. It is vital. It is a part of the human health system. Our bodies and immune systems will break down and be susceptible to disease and viruses, if we don’t maintain a proper rest schedule. There are certain things which will never be addressed correctly in our bodies if we do not choose to rest. This doesn’t mean we are lazy or avoid work. Those concepts are addressed in the Bible too as important. What it does mean is that there is an appropriate emphasis and “balance” on both work and rest in order for us to function at optimum abilities as human beings. Too much of either can be an issue, but a practice of both can be powerful.