From the dawn of time, life has been stressful. However, it seems to me that, in the last twenty years, it has become even more so. Advances in technology (mobile phones, wireless internet, laptops, etc.) have literally made it possible to work “around the clock”—and a good many of us are! We eat on the run; we have conference calls while out on the road; we check our emails late into the evening, and again first thing the next morning.

It is little wonder that so many of us feel stressed out, worn down, and fed up. It is also not surprising that God anticipated all of this, and thus, commanded us to rest at regular intervals. Notice that I didn’t say “strongly recommended.” Keeping the Sabbath is not a recommendation; it is a requirement.

In fact, it is the longest commandment; and the only one which is explained differently in the Exodus and Deuteronomy versions of the Ten Commandments. In Exodus, the rationale for keeping the Sabbath is based on the creation story. Since God worked six days and rested on the seventh—so should we!

In other words, the concept of “taking a break from our busyness” is not something that the Almighty suddenly came up with, while talking with Moses on Mount Sinai. It is a practice that has existed from the very beginning, and it pertains to all of life—including the animals (the Book of Leviticus even extends it to the land). The entire created order is to observe times of Sabbath rest.

However, when this commandment is stated in Deuteronomy, the reason given is not the creation story, but because “we were once slaves in Egypt and God freed us from our slavery.” From this perspective, we begin to realize that work, and the incessant tyranny of our schedules, can become just as oppressive as Pharaoh himself.

For example, when we say to ourselves, “If I don’t keep at it, I will never finish my work on time”—then we become slaves of the clock. When we say, “If I don’t keep at it, I will never accomplish everything I need to do”—then we become slaves of productivity. And of course, the bottom line is that God does not want us to be slaves of anyone or anything. We have been set free from all of that!

I guess what it really comes down to is this: Who is running your life right now? Is it the clock? Is it the “to do” list? Is it the desire to be successful? To climb the corporate ladder? To become wealthy? To be seen as important?

Who is calling the shots in your life? Because if the answer is anything other than God, then you may need to take a Sabbath break, in order to be reminded again of whom we were created to serve.