Too often overlooked or misunderstood, the Sabbath is far more than an ancient tradition, it’s a divine rhythm built into creation itself. Rabbi Kirt Schneider believes it’s time for believers to reclaim this sacred day, not as a legalistic burden, but as a gift meant to refresh the soul and restore the body.
“The principle of the Sabbath and the law of the Sabbath was given before the Mosaic law,” Schneider said in a teaching on Decoding the Torah. “In fact, it’s in the first chapters of Genesis where the Lord created the world in six days, then He rested on the seventh day and hallowed it.”
Breaking News. Spirit-Filled Stories. Subscribe to Charisma on YouTube now!
Many Christians, he explained, disregard the Sabbath because they view it as part of the Old Covenant. But Schneider emphasized that the Sabbath “predates the Ten Commandments” and is rooted in the very fabric of creation. “The Sabbath, beloved one, is a creation principle,” he said. “The Sabbath was given before there was a Jew or a Gentile.”
More than a day off, the Sabbath is a day to be set apart unto the Lord. “We’re staying close to home. We’re not exerting ourselves with responsibilities and burdens,” Schneider explained. “We’re sitting before the Lord, spending time with loved ones, enjoying meals together, taking a nap, listening to beautiful worship music, reading Scripture.”
The principle is simple, yet transformative: six days of work followed by one day of sacred rest. “It’s such a beautiful thing to have a reason to be irresponsible,” he said. “Nothing we have to do but rest in Him.”
Rabbi Schneider also addressed the confusion around the Sabbath’s timing, clarifying, “The Sabbath has never been changed by the way from Saturday to Sunday. Sunday is the first day of the week that we celebrate the Lord’s resurrection… but Sunday never replaced the seventh day of the week.”
He reminded viewers of Jesus’ words in Mark 2: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Schneider echoed the point: “It was God’s gift to you… so that we could be revived and refreshed and rejuvenated.”
To observe the Sabbath well, he advised planning ahead: pre-cooking meals, finishing chores early, and even disconnecting from technology. “I’m so blessed to know that every week, I have a day come Friday at sunset that—bam—all my technology is disconnected,” he said. “Because it frees me from that addictive cycle that causes so much stress.”
In practicing Sabbath rest, Schneider said believers create space for God to move in their lives. “The Shabbat is a time, beloved, where the Lord… re-presents Himself to us when we make space for Him to do that.”
Join Charisma Magazine Online to follow everything the Holy Spirit is doing around the world!
He concluded with a reminder of God’s own example. “He created the world in six days and then He Himself rested and was refreshed. We’re created in His image. So if we want to walk out the image that we’re created in… we should work six days and rest one.”
By honoring the Sabbath, believers can find renewed strength, peace of mind and deeper intimacy with God.
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
