My Sabbath Journey: How Christ Led Me Into His Rest
Like many new believers, I expected clarity, confidence and joy to follow as my eagerness to learn grew. Yet becoming a Christian — though the most profound transformation a person can experience — can also be deeply challenging. It came at a cost, as I wrestled with doubts, old habits and the weight of seeing the world through an entirely new lens.
As my convictions deepened, my sense of isolation deepened with them. I no longer fitted in at work as I once had, and I often struggled to relate to my non‑Christian friends, many of whom understandably held the same negative view of Christianity that I once had. I even felt distant from fellow believers who had known Christ all their lives. Their confidence made me feel less deserving because of my background. In that loneliness, I immersed myself in online teachings about the Trinity, difficult passages of Scripture and end‑times prophecy. Looking back, I can see that not everything I consumed strengthened my understanding in a healthy way. Even so, God used that season to teach me discernment — a lesson I am still learning today.
Building My Faith on Scripture
Having been burned once before by an institution shaped by human tradition, I was determined not to fall into the same patterns again. My faith had to be grounded in God’s Word, sound doctrine and a clear understanding of Church history.
I often felt as though I was piecing my faith together from the ground up, trying to forget the versions of the stories I had known as a Muslim, and so I focused purely on Scripture and during this season of searching, I encountered one of my biggest challenges: understanding the Sabbath. This was something in the Bible that spoke deeply to me, because I had been a workaholic for most of my adult life — working long hours in the family business while trying to complete my degree and holding a part‑time job as a care worker.
Just before I met my now‑husband, I was working nearly seven days a week, easily sixty to seventy hours, and when I look back on that period, I realise that God was propping me up the entire time. So the concept of the Sabbath struck me personally, and I wanted to know more. As I read through the Old Testament, I realised that the Sabbath formed part of the Ten Commandments themselves — written by God’s own finger on stone — and that it fell on a Saturday.
So then why do Christians today no longer keep it? And how did the day of rest move from the seventh day to Sunday?
I knew I couldn’t simply accept inherited assumptions; I needed to understand it biblically. So I asked God to guide me as I studied His Word and the history of the early church.
Rooted in Creation and Command
What I discovered was that from the very beginning, God blessed the seventh day and set it apart as holy — long before Israel existed, long before any covenant was made, and long before the giving of the Law at Sinai. The Sabbath is therefore not introduced as a later religious regulation but as part of the fabric of creation itself, woven into the rhythm of life God intended for humanity.
“And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy…” — Genesis 2:2–3 (ESV)
Later, when God delivered Israel from Egypt and established His covenant with them, He wrote the Ten Commandments on stone with His own finger, including the call to “remember the Sabbath day” (Exodus 20:8–11). Leviticus then describes the Sabbath as “a statute forever” — a perpetual command rooted in God’s own holiness and His desire for fellowship with His creation. Failure to comply was treated with utmost seriousness, even to the point of death, as Exodus 35:2 makes clear: “Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.”
As I reflected on this, I realised the significance of the Sabbath was about more than God simply setting a day aside as holy. It points back to a time before the fall — a time when Adam and Eve trusted God fully, before the serpent corrupted their understanding. To ignore the Sabbath echoes that same original deception in the garden, where humanity first believed it could act independently of God. The refusal to rest becomes a quiet repetition of that ancient lie — the belief that we can sustain ourselves, define our own rhythm, and rely on our own strength without Him. It is a mindset still wildly prevalent today, and one the Sabbath gently confronts by calling us back to trust, dependence and fellowship with our Creator.
Because of this, many — myself included — understand the Sabbath to stand alongside the other nine commandments as moral and enduring. Few would argue that “Do not steal” or “Do not kill” has been abolished. In the same way, it say the same with regards to the Sabbath.
The Sabbath therefore stands at the intersection of creation and command, reminding us of God’s finished work and His covenant faithfulness. It shows that rest is an act of worship and trust, calling us to cease from striving and recognise that God alone sustains, provides and completes what we cannot. In keeping the Sabbath, we step into the pattern God blessed at creation, acknowledging His sovereignty over our time, His wisdom in ordering life, and His kindness in giving rest as a gift rather than a burden.
Learning to Study Scripture Carefully
As I examined the verses most often cited against seventh day Sabbath observance—and in support of Sunday worship—I found it especially important to test everything through the CAAP method: considering the Context, Author, Audience and Purpose of each passage. So, I began with Colossians 2:
““Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” – Colossians 2:16–17 (ESV)
Paul wrote to a mainly Gentile church influenced by both Jewish tradition and pagan spirituality. Certain teachers insisted that Christians observe dietary rules, festivals, new moons and Sabbaths as part of a system tied to the “elemental spirits of the universe”. The phrase “festivals, new moons and Sabbaths” follows the yearly–monthly–weekly pattern found in Ezekiel 45:17. In Jewish literature, this formula summarised the entire ceremonial calendar, including the sacrificial system that pointed forward to Christ.Even the Sabbath had additional offerings attached to it under the Mosaic law (Numbers 28:9–10).
Paul, trained under Gamaliel, almost certainly used this phrase intentionally. He was addressing the ceremonial system as a whole—not the weekly Sabbath in isolation.When Paul calls these observances “a shadow of the things to come”, he is referring specifically to the ceremonial and sacrificial elements of the Jewish calendar — practices that pointed forward to Christ’s redemptive work. His language is not aimed at the creation‑rooted Sabbath rest. The seventh‑day Sabbath predates sin and stands within the Ten Commandments, so Paul’s reference to “sabbaths” addresses the ritual additions attached to the day under the Mosaic system, not the weekly rest God established at creation.
Paul then warns against spiritual elitism, asceticism and mystical practices that distract from Christ. True growth comes only from holding fast to Him (Colossians 2:18–23). His teaching in Colossians makes it clear that he is addressing the ceremonial system tied to festivals, new moons and Sabbaths—not the creation rooted rhythm of rest.
But Colossians is not the only passage people raise when discussing the Sabbath. Another verse often referred to is Romans 14:5–6, where Paul speaks about esteeming one day above another.
“One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” — Romans 14:5–6 (ESV)
Romans 14 addresses tensions between Jewish and Gentile believers over food customs and devotional practices. In verses 5–6, Paul is speaking about fasting days, not the weekly Sabbath.
Paul is not redefining the Sabbath or establishing Sunday worship. His concern is unity, humility and love—not calendar reform.
Historical Considerations
After the apostles, various traditions began shaping Christian practice. As noted in Catholic Culture, Augustine observes that different customs were emerging between Christians in the East and the West. In many Eastern communities, believers took food on the seventh day as a sign of joy and rest, reflecting God’s rest at creation. Meanwhile, the Church of Rome and several Western churches preferred to fast on Saturday, viewing it as a day of humility in remembrance of Christ’s burial. Augustine notes that both practices existed within the wider Church and insists that neither should be condemned, since Scripture lays down no fixed rule. Instead, he urges believers to follow the custom of the church they belong to, so that unity and charity are preserved despite these regional differences.
These differing approaches to Saturday show how early Christians were still navigating their identity in relation to the Jewish Sabbath. As these practices developed, another shift was taking place within the wider Church: the gradual elevation of Sunday, the Lord’s Day, as the primary marker of Christian worship and rest.
Canon 29 of the Synod of Laodicea gives one of the clearest early Christian statements on the relationship between Saturday and Sunday. The canon warns believers not to “judaize by resting on the Sabbath”, insisting instead that Christians should continue their ordinary work on Saturday and give honour to the Lord’s Day, resting then if they are able. This reflects the fourth‑century conviction that Christian rest belongs to the day of Christ’s resurrection, while Saturday is to be kept as a day of worship without adopting the rest‑laws of the Mosaic covenant.
As the Global Catholic article explains, the earliest believers met on the first day of the week to celebrate Christ’s resurrection, but they did so before or after their ordinary work, since Sunday was not yet a rest day. This changed in A.D. 321 when Emperor Constantine declared Sunday a public day of rest. Although framed as the “Day of the Sun”, the law aligned civil life with Christian worship, allowing believers to gather without the demands of labour.
The Catholic Encyclopedia’s treatment of Sunday confirms this development, showing how early Christians gradually shifted from the Jewish Sabbath to the Lord’s Day as their primary day of worship where Church Fathers like Ignatius spoke of Christians “no longer observing the Sabbath” but living in the joy of the Lord’s Day. By the third century, writers such as Tertullian explicitly associated Sunday with rest, and by the fourth century both councils and civil laws encouraged Christians to abstain from work as far as possible. Over time, Sunday rest became woven into Christian and social life throughout the Middle Ages and beyond.
Looking at the history, it is understandable why the Church began gathering on Sundays to break bread and celebrate what came to be considered the “Lord’s Day”. However, Scripture shows a very different pattern. Paul never attempts to suppress Sabbath rest or promote Sunday observance.
Hebrews teaches that the sacrificial system has ceased because Christ’s sacrifice is complete (Hebrews 10:1–14), yet it continues to speak of God’s rest (Hebrews 4:1–11). In addition, the Jerusalem Council debated circumcision extensively but said nothing about changing the Sabbath (Acts 15:1–29).
Whilst it is true that he early church met on the first day of the week — it is important to acknowledge that they also met every day (Acts 2:46), including the Sabbath (Acts 13:14; Acts 17:2; Acts 18:4). These gatherings were moments of fellowship and teaching, not replacements for the seventh‑day rest God established at creation.
So it is no surprise that when the Protestant Reformers protested against the Catholic Church, Catholic apologists argued that Sunday observance rests on tradition, not explicit biblical command — whereas the seventh‑day Sabbath is commanded plainly in Scripture. Therefore, Protestants cannot claim to be “sola Scriptura” while holding onto the Sunday day of rest.
Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath
For me, the most important moment in my understanding of the Sabbath was realising that not only did Jesus keep the Sabbath, He also declared Himself “Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5). In calling Himself “Lord of the Sabbath”, He quietly reveals His divine authority, for only the One who instituted the Sabbath can stand over it and define its true meaning.
This divine pattern continues in His death and resurrection. Jesus was buried on the day of Preparation (Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:14) and raised on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3–8), so His body rested in the tomb throughout the Sabbath (Luke 23:56). Then, as the Sabbath rest ended, the women discovered the empty tomb early on the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1), signalling that a new creation had begun.
In this I see a profound fulfilment of the Sabbath pattern: Christ completed the true Sabbath rest before the dawn of the first day, and His resurrection marked the beginning of God’s new creation.
A Personal Conclusion
For all these reasons, I honour the Sabbath as a voluntary act of faithfulness—a weekly rhythm of rest in Christ—without treating it as a means of salvation or imposing it on others.
Christ is the substance; the Sabbath remains a gift. Not something I deserve, nor a way of earning favour, but an expression of love: a quiet rest in the God who saved me by grace through faith and sustains me when I am weak.
And with all this said, I recognise that my understanding of Scripture may not be everyone’s interpretation. I am not suggesting that those who do not honour the Sabbath are doing anything wrong.
The Christian life is about knowing our identity in Christ, building strong foundations, growing in faith through Scripture, prayer and fellowship with other believers, and navigating life’s challenges with Him at the centre.
For me, the Sabbath simply fits within that journey—a gift of rest that helps me delight in the God who calls me His own.
As I continue to grow, my hope is that anyone new to the faith who visits this site will be strengthened and encouraged. May the Holy Spirit guide them, shape them, and help them build a real and lasting relationship with the Lord. And in my own walk, I pray for courage to share the gospel faithfully — not only through writing, but in everyday conversations.
I’ve been listening to an audiobook by Andy Bannister called “How to Talk About Jesus Without Looking Like an Idiot” — yes, that is in fact the title — and I would encourage every Christian to listen to it. It’s entertainingly put together, but also deeply practical. It has reminded me that evangelism can be gentle and bold at the same time, thoughtful yet confident. My desire is to reach others with the love of Christ, whether through this website or through face‑to‑face encounters, trusting God to open doors and prepare hearts along the way.