Sabbath

Rest

Being sick over Christmas and New Year’s may have driven my 2026 Word for the Year—Sabbath!

The message I kept getting was, “Ange, remember! Stop and focus on Me at My appointed time and I will give you rest!”

I was reminded of the many ways in which the Sabbath ministers to us, giving us rest, and even more. So, I’ll share with you what the Lord reminded me of and revealed to me:

What We Know

Rest. The Sabbath [or “seventh day”] became synonymous with rest in

Genesis 2:3:

‘Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that He had done.’

Holy means “set apart.” God calls us to set this one day apart.

Command. It’s a command we get to follow, and keeping His commands shows our love for

Him. Jesus says in

John 14:15:

‘If you love Me, keep My commands.’

Gift. Jesus said,

‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’ (Mark 2:27)

It’s a gift to those who are free. Slaves don’t get a day off; we who are no longer slaves to sin do.

Worship. Sabbath was declared by God in Exodus 9:1 as the reason to ‘let my people go!’ so

they will be free to worship Him in a place set-apart from that sin-filled Egypt.

Joy.

Isaiah 58:13-14 says: ‘if you...call the Sabbath a delight...if you honour it, not going your

own ways or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the

Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth...’

He’s overjoyed by our joy in Him!

What a deal! For six days we do the good work He’s willed for us; on the seventh, we rest in

Him. And I pray us the blessings that come from observing the command and partaking in the gift.