7 Benefits of a Sabbath Day of Rest

Wishing you could get more done but feeling you don’t have enough time? Society has primed us human beings for productivity, telling us we’ll be more successful if we keep going without time off.

And so, we try. And try. And exhaust ourselves.

As crazy as it might sound, what if the solution wasn’t doing more but doing less? What if rest was the one thing that could keep you going, not just longer but also more effectively?

After God created our beautiful new planet, the Bible tells us that He gave us the seventh day of the week as a day of rest, the Sabbath (Genesis 2:1–3). In Hebrew, Sabbath means “to rest from labor” or “to cease or stop.”

Today, more and more people are keeping Sabbath—and not only for religious reasons. At a time when anxiety, depression, stress, and chronic illness so often interfere with life, people are recognizing that an uninterrupted 24-hour period of rest has incredible physical and mental health benefits.

These benefits include:

1. Better physical health
2. Lowered risk for illness
3. Mental rejuvenation
4. Improved relationships
5. Increased productivity
6. A deeper relationship with God
7. Greater self-awareness

Let’s get an overview of each of these. At the end, we’ll offer some tips for getting the most out of your day of rest.

1. Better physical health

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Physical rest is critical to healing from injury, diseases, or vigorous exercise—and it’s just as critical for maintaining health. A full day of rest gives the body time to recover and relax.

Research on Blue Zones, communities in the world where the concentration of people who live into their 100s is high, revealed that Loma Linda, California, is one of these zones due to its high population of Seventh-day Adventists (over 9,000). Dan Buettner, the lead researcher for the project, believes that Adventists’ practice of keeping a weekly Sabbath rest contributes to their better health and longer lifespan than the general population.

2. Lowered risk for illnesses

Having a weekly day of rest can help you set better boundaries between work and the rest of life, preventing overwork.

Overwork and the resulting stress tend to increase the release of stress hormones like cortisol in the body.¹ Cortisol, in turn, raises blood pressure, and the stress from overwork can also contribute to depression, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and digestive issues.²

Besides regulating the body’s stress response, sufficient rest and sleep also strengthen the immune system and help our bodies fight off illnesses, especially the common cold and flu.

3. Mental rejuvenation

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Jesus Christ said the Sabbath is meant to be a blessing for human beings—not a burden or something to stress over but rather a way to mentally refresh us (Mark 2:28).

Researchers who analyzed surveys from 5,411 Adventists in the Adventist Health Study found a “significant correlation between Sabbath keeping and mental health.”³

They suggested that numerous factors about Sabbath keeping could contribute to better mental health. For example, Sabbath might help people to “think more positively of themselves and feel more empowered to cope with stressors.”⁴

Another study of 18 people who kept Sabbath for 8 weeks suggested that Sabbath-keeping could lower stress and anxiety while improving well-being.⁵

4. Improved relationships

A day of rest is a great opportunity to build and improve relationships.

After all, time is a key factor in strong relationships. Sabbath provides time for family gatherings, fellowship among church members, and chatting with neighbors. For many Seventh-day Adventists, Sabbaths are very social, involving church attendance, social gatherings, and connecting with the community.

Researcher Barbara Speeding interviewed ten women who were “not part of communities where Sabbath-keeping was the norm” but had started keeping Sabbath. She found that “Sabbath provided unrushed time and space to nurture relationships. Several women spoke about how a break from technology helped them be more present to others including spouses, partners, children, and friends.”⁶

Sabbath especially has benefits for marriage and family relationships. Couples can relax and enjoy one another’s company, developing deeper bonds.⁷ They’re also able to connect more with their children without the rush of daily work and school.

5. Increased productivity

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The fourth commandment of the Ten Commandments sets aside Sabbath for rest while instructing us to work on the other six days of the week (Exodus 20:8). That means God created us to be productive and prosperous in our work—but not without rest.

What if taking time off one day out of seven could increase our productivity on the other six days?

One of the effects of burnout at work is “reduced professional efficacy,” so it makes sense that balancing work with rest could reverse and prevent this, helping us to enjoy our work more.⁸

Whether you’re a stay-at-home parent, construction worker, surgeon, or teacher, a day of rest can boost your performance and creativity in the workplace and home.

6. Deeper relationship with God

God designed the Sabbath as a way for us to grow in our relationship with Him—to remember Him as our Creator and Savior (Exodus 20:8–11; Deuteronomy 5:15).

Think of it like a “date with God.” He expresses His love to us by giving us a day to turn away from regular weekly activities and focus on our relationship with Him.

We, in turn, return that expression of love by entering into that day of rest. Having a whole 24 hours set aside from the rush of life allows us to more intentionally seek Him, whether taking time to talk with Him in moments of quietness, reading the Bible, or spending time out in nature.

7. Greater self-awareness

It’s easy to avoid or skip self-reflection when life already feels so busy. But Sabbath offers us space to pause and do some introspection.

Speeding noted through the interviews she conducted that Sabbath provided “time for reflection and avoiding distractions helped foster greater self-awareness for everyone.”⁹

And since self-awareness is such an important part of emotional health and good relationships, it’s not surprising that this would also be a benefit of having a day of rest.

So, how can we be sure we truly enjoy all these benefits?

How to get the most out of your day of rest

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To get the full benefits of a day of rest requires some intentionality, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Planning ahead and setting your priorities around Sabbath can help you enter that time with a sense of expectation for the rest and joy you’re going to experience.

Here are some simple steps to try out:

1. Clear your Sabbath schedule beforehand, letting coworkers and employers know about your plan to rest. This way, you’ll avoid those unexpected work calls or obligations.
2. Take a small chunk of time each day to prepare your home for your day of rest. This might look like vacuuming on Wednesday, cleaning bathrooms on Thursday, and prepping food on Friday so you won’t have to worry about a messy home or elaborate cooking on Sabbath.
3. Consider unplugging from the internet and social media for the whole 24 hours you’re resting.
4. Have a ritual to begin your day of rest each week. Adventists who keep the Sabbath day from Friday night to Saturday night will often begin it with prayer, music, and a time of worship.
5. Connect with a community of people who keep Sabbath—whether through attending a Sabbath-keeping church or gathering with a small group of friends.
6. Plan simple, restful activities that you can do with your family and friends, such as going for nature walks, spending time by a river, or reading a Christian biography together.
7. Leave cushion time in your plans so you won’t feel rushed and so you can have those extra moments for reflection and quietness. It may feel uncomfortable at first, but before you know it, you’ll crave for the relaxed nature of the day.

Remember, these steps are some of the many possible ways to improve your day of rest. In the end, the key is finding what works best for you and your family.

Could a day of rest change your life?

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It just might. The evidence definitely points in that direction.

But the only way to know for sure is to experience it for yourself.

You might feel like you just don’t have the time, that it isn’t practical for your life. Yet having a day of rest may be the best decision you ever make, allowing you to experience the greatest amount of productivity, health, and wholeness. Why not try it for a few weeks and see what happens?

To go deeper into this topic,

1. “5 Side Effects of Working Too Much,” Cleveland Clinic. [↵]
2. Pelc, Corrie, “Can Overwork Kill You?” MedicalNewsToday. [↵]
3. Superville et al., “Sabbath Keeping and Its Relationships to Health and Well-Being,” The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. [↵]
4. Ibid. [↵]
5. McNichol, Katie, “Sabbath-Keeping and Mental Health: The Influence of Weekly Sabbath-Keeping on Stress, Anxiety and Well-Being.” [↵]
6. Speedling, Barbara Baker, “Celebrating Sabbath as a Holistic Health Practice,” Journal of Religion and Health. [↵]
7. Boyd, Jana, “An Analysis of the Relationship between Sabbath Meaning and Leisure, Marital Intimacy, and Marital Satisfaction among Seventh-day Adventists.” [↵]
8. Pelc, “Can Overwork Kill You?” [↵]
9. Speedling, “Celebrating Sabbath as a Holistic Health Practice.” [↵]