The seventh-day Sabbath is much more than a weekly day of rest; it is a day devoted totally to God, serving as a regulator and barometer of our relationship with Him. Far from being a burden, the Sabbath is a delight when kept properly, becoming a most precious time and a tremendous blessing each week as we work to improve our connection with God.

The Sabbath is a day set apart by God for the recreation and cleansing process, different from the other six days of the week. It is a day dedicated to qadash activity, which makes us pure and Godlike, holy like Him. God ordained the Sabbath to be holy because He knew the world is full of too many distractions. The Sabbath becomes a delight when we stop spending it on our will and pleasure, and instead use His holy day to focus on His purpose, which is all about qadash activity, not about the distractions of this world. Our conversations on the Sabbath should not be the same as the other six days of the week; they should build up our faith and aid God's sanctification and cleansing process, helping us become more holy. When we allow our minds to wander and think about what we want, we pollute God's Sabbath. We must work harder to control our minds and ask for God's help and His Holy Spirit to remove those pollutants from our minds, making the Sabbath a day of delight and holiness.

The Sabbath is to be a day of joy and delight. God expects a great deal of respect for the Sabbath day, and He says it is to be held honorable, meaning right and proper. It is a day set aside as holy to God, belonging to Him, and is to be used for His pleasure rather than our own. We honor Him by doing His desire, will, wish, or preference on this day, not our own ways, pleasures, or words. The Sabbath is intended to be a liberating delight, functioning to produce right relationships with God and fellowman.

Even though the term "holiness" appears 900 times in scripture, God's people struggle to understand it. The first time it appears in scripture is God's appearance at the burning bush (Exodus 3) when the ground became holy because of God's presence, just as when the Commander of God's Army met Joshua. The principle of sanctification applies to time as well as place, as God sanctified the seventh day Sabbath as a covenant sign between Him and His people (Ezekiel 20:12) as a "test commandment" of obedience. We keep the Sabbath when we cease from ordinary work, gather in holy convocation, rest, focus on God, and appreciate the day of delight (Isaiah 58:13-14) a day designed for rest, worship, and spiritual growth (Mark 2:27). Holiness demands both inner humility and outward reverence. As Moses removed his sandals, God's people must surrender pride, show respect, and walk in obedience, maintaining holiness in all their conduct (I Peter 1:15-16).