Is a Weekly Sabbath Day of Rest Good? Do We Need That Day?

Is a weekly day of rest good for us? Do we need that?

Yes. Various studies indicate that we humans function better if there is at least one day a week that we rest, do things differently than we do on the other days.

Furthermore, studies indicate it is better if we take the same day each week for that day of rest.

You can read about these studies online if you choose to.

The Bible Commandment to Keep the Sabbath

The original concept of virtually everyone  taking the same day each week for rest from work probably comes from Judaism. Taking a weekly day for rest is also one of the Ten Commandments many Christians seek to keep.

I remember reading the commandment in the Bible. Keeping the Sabbath is discussed in multiple places in the Bible, but Exodus 20:8-11 is the passage that seems to me to discuss it best. The Bible Gateway website is one of many places you can read those verses.

That Exodus passage instructs the Jews to rest on the last day of the week, the seventh day, just as God rested on the seventh day after six days of creation.

Since this article focuses on taking a weekly day of rest, I won't get into Creationism, how the Earth and life on it formed and how long it took.

However, it's reasonable to consider the Bible commandment as the root of the Sabbath Day of rest as we know it.

Below is a photo of a King James Version Bible my dad and mom gave me when I was a boy, probably in the late 1960s. It was my first  Bible. I've acquired several others of different versions since.

United States Blue Laws Regarding Sunday

Many places in the United States used to have what were called blue laws requiring most businesses to be closed on Sunday, the day of rest for most Christians who practice a weekly day of rest. When I started college here  in Lexington, Kentucky, the city had a blue law.

The Lexington law that kept most stores closed on Sundays has been done away with. Blue laws in other cities have largely been abolished over the years too.

Perhaps it's interesting to keep in mind that though the Sabbath Day of Judaism and the Old Testament of the Bible is Saturday, the seventh day of the week, the blue laws considered Sunday to be the day for rest from work.

Closing Thoughts

Regardless of your religious faith or lack of religious faith, it seems advisable to get at least one day of rest weekly. And it's preferable that it be the same day for persons every week.

Furthermore, when all or most persons enjoy the same day(s) off weekly, it facilitates fellowship and various activities together with one another.

Obviously hospitals, police forces, fire departments, and some other organizations must operate 24 hours a day every day.

But it might be nice if more of us did enjoy at least one day off in common with others each week, and it was the same day every week.

NOTE: This article was last revised on January 8, 2026.