The Sabbath is vital to our relationship with God because it shapes the way we perceive and worship Him. We should remember the Sabbath by formally worshiping God on that day. Otherwise, we forfeit that special understanding that God wants to develop in us by worshiping Him on that day.

It is by ceasing our normal labor and activities that we are reminded of an essential lesson every week. After six days of fashioning this beautiful earth and everything in it, our Creator ceased molding the physical part of His creation and rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:1-3).

The Sabbath is a special day to concentrate on developing our relationship with God. Relationships take time. Every successful association demands time. No close relationship can succeed without it—no courtship, no marriage, no friendship. Our relationship with God is no exception. God, however, wants us to take special time to worship Him. That is what only the Sabbath—the seventh day of the week—can provide.

Although it is a day of rest from our normal routines and we do need even physical rejuvenation, it is not a day for doing nothing, as some assume. On the contrary, the Sabbath is a special day on which we dramatically change the focus of our activity. God intended that it be a delightful period during which we busily draw closer to Him. How can we draw closer to Him? One way is to be reminded of His creation, for "in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" (Exodus 20:11). The Sabbath keeps us in touch with how real God is as our Creator.

Consider the world in which we live, which rejects the Sabbath. Is it any surprise that the theory of evolution, that the world and everything in it developed from nothing, dominates the thinking of most highly educated people? Most scholars scoff at the idea that the creation requires a thoughtful, purposeful, almighty Creator—just as rejection of the Sabbath dominates their thinking. Even many professing Christian scholars accept this point of view. Observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, however, keeps us in constant remembrance that our faith is founded on the existence of a very real Creator.

How often do we think of God's creation on the Sabbath?

With these thoughts I wish everyone a rewarding Sabbath!