Exodus 34:21 “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.”

This puts a special twist on Sabbath keeping. Every agriculture worker knows there is a time when every hour counts and there is just so much daylight.

Principle: A personal, weekly Sabbath is a necessity, not a luxury, especially in busy seasons of life.

Build time for resting into your schedule. 6 days of work and 1 day of rest. That’s 15% of your week. Account for the 15% in your calendar first, then fill in the rest of your week. Compromise on this point will lower your productivity, not raise it.

The “six and one” principle was established by God for good reason. He created us this way. During the French Revolution, the government decided to establish a ten-day week, but it didn’t work. Everyone was exhausted and productivity dropped, so they went back to God’s plan.

The 7-day week system has no relationship to seasons. The 7-day system is totally the design of God. You can go along with the design or fight it, but you cannot change it. If you work seven days a week, you gain 416 more production hours in a year to spend on accomplishing something. Is that something good?

Yesterday and Saturday I spent 16 hours working through the weekend to get caught up. It is Monday morning as I write this and I’m tired. God, you’re right.

Discussion:

1. If you worked 7 days/week for a long time, how did that work for you?

2. What’s the greatest challenge to you maintaining a weekly Sabbath?

3. Taking a Sabbath day might seem impossible. Give it a try, and see if the Lord doesn’t bless you in ways you couldn’t imagine.