Keeping the Seventh-day Sabbath Saved My Marriage

I agree with Charlie and Erika Kirk that keeping the seventh-day Sabbath has “transformed” my life, just as they claim it did theirs. Some may say that Sabbath-keeping isn’t important, or it’s been done away with, or it’s legalistic. But for me, it’s a life-saver. I am convinced that if it wasn’t for my husband and I keeping the Sabbath, we probably wouldn’t be married today.

You see, we are both Type A personalities. There are never enough hours in the day to get everything done. I am a teacher, a writer, a student, a tutor, a mother, a church member, a housewife, a grandmother, and the list goes on. Usually, I’m up in the middle of the night praying, studying, and writing because I can’t seem to find time to do it in my days. It’s 4 a.m., and I’m here writing this blog. That’s just me. That’s just my life.

My husband is similar, except he doesn’t usually get up at night, he just doesn’t sleep half the time. He works a regular job now, just ten hours a day, five days a week, but he used to own his own business as a traveling electrical contractor. His work schedule, then, kept him up all night, retrofitting lights in schools and businesses so that they could be open during the day. Much of his adult life, he has worked twelve hours a day, but before we got married, he painted for his uncle in Alaska one summer and averaged ninety-six hours in a six-day week.

 One thing, however, I could always count on. One thing never changed. He didn’t work Saturdays, EVER. Even though he worked in construction, he never budged when it came to keeping the Sabbath. He took God’s command seriously in Exodus 20:8-10 (NKJV) that states, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it, you shall do no work …” In fact, several times, he had to throw his keys onto his bosses’ desks and say, “I’m done if I can’t get off work on Saturday.” They would look at him like he just stepped off a spaceship from Mars, but amazingly, he never lost one job. He was just too good of a worker, and they knew it. They couldn’t afford to fire him.

Having three children, and then adopting a fourth, just added to life’s busyness. The kids knew, however, that on Saturdays, we would head to church together as a family and come home for a special Sabbath meal, prepared the day before, and relax in a clean house. We’d spend the rest of the day taking hikes in nature, reading Bible stories, playing Bible games, chilling with family and friends, and enjoying the fast-fleeting Sabbath hours until the sun set and another work week began. There was no T.V.-watching, shopping, house-cleaning, mundane chores, or sports games on this day. No. Sabbath was REST— a stop from the endless treadmill of life. Sabbath was a day for God and family, a day set apart from the week, a day worth keeping.

Looking back now, I am only beginning to realize the impact that Sabbath has had on my life. If it weren’t for this special day, I’m sure I would have ended up a single mother, toting four kids, working full time, just surviving. But because my husband and I were committed to keeping the Sabbath like God instructed in His Word, our lives have been blessed, just like the Lord promised in Hebrews 4:9, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.” For me and my family, that means a Sabbath rest. I agree with Erika Kirk when she said, ““It’s really something special to be aligned with the Sabbath and God's Word, to be able to just take the time to just breathe, cut out the noise and just be in alignment with the [Holy] Spirit and know what your role is in all of this.” Like Erika, Sabbath has given me both rest and meaning in my life.

Keeping Sabbath, I believe, saved my marriage because it gave me the gift of time: time with my husband, time with family, and time with God. Without it, I would never have experienced the joy and the peace I feel today. I can’t imagine, now, what I would do without it.… How about you?