If you want to grow in your understanding and practice of Sabbath, one of the most helpful things you can do is learn from Christians who have studied Sabbath, written about Sabbath and reflected deeply on this subject over many years.
The books below are biblical, practical and deeply encouraging. Each one approaches Sabbath from a slightly different angle – but all of them will help you rediscover Sabbath not as a burdensome set of rules, but as God’s good gift of rest, delight, worship and refreshment.
This article contains affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may get a commission, but you will not be charged a penny more. Thanks for your support!
The Ruthless Elimination Of Hurry – John Mark Comer
If you’re feeling anxious, exhausted, overwhelmed or spiritually dry, start here.
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry isn’t technically a book about Sabbath. It’s actually about something much bigger – how the hurried, frantic pace of modern life is damaging our spiritual lives and stopping us from becoming more like Jesus.
And Sabbath is one of the four key practices Comer recommends for addressing that problem and refocusing our lives on God.
The other three are:
- Silence and solitude
- Simplicity
- Slowing
Although the book is much broader than Sabbath, I think that actually makes it a brilliant introduction to the subject.
Comer’s argument is that hurry is profoundly damaging to our souls.
We are constantly rushing from one thing to another. Our phones are always demanding our attention. There is always another email to answer, another notification to check, another job to do, another achievement to chase.
And then we wonder why we feel anxious, exhausted, overwhelmed and spiritually dry.
Comer argues that the pace of our lives matters enormously when it comes to following Jesus. If we’re constantly rushing, distracted and overstimulated, we’re going to find it very difficult to cultivate the kind of love, joy and peace that characterised Jesus’ life.
And this is where Sabbath comes in.
Comer doesn’t present Sabbath simply as “a day when you don’t work”. Instead, he shows how deliberately stopping for a whole day can help us break our addiction to hurry and create space for God.
Key quotes:
“The noise of the modern world makes us deaf to the voice of God.”
“We achieve inner peace when our schedules are aligned to our values.”
Best for:
- Christians who feel anxious, overwhelmed, exhausted or spiritually dry
- Anyone who struggles with hurry, busyness or constant distraction
- People who want to understand why Sabbath matters in the context of following Jesus
- Readers who enjoy very accessible, practical Christian books
BUY IT HERE >>> The Ruthless Elimination Of Hurry
Subversive Sabbath – A. J. Swoboda
I love the way this book begins. Swoboda says in the introduction:
“The Sabbath is a gift we don’t know how to receive.”
In a world that constantly tells us our value comes from what we achieve, we don’t know what to do with a gift that tells us to stop and to rest.
Rather than receiving this gift gladly and enjoying it, we fight over it.
Like many books on this list, Swoboda makes the case that we were “made to rest”.
God created the seven day week.
He created the six days to work, one day to rest rhythm.
We are made in the image of God and so we are designed to work and rest as God worked and rested.
And when we don’t… things go very wrong!
He shares a very stark example of what happens when we meddle with this God-ordained rhythm: in 18th century France, they attempted to increase productivity by moving to a 10 day week. It was a disaster: suicide rates rocketed, people burned out and productivity cratered.
But this book is not just about how Sabbath is good for US.
In fact this book is divided into 4 sections:
- Sabbath for us
- Sabbath for others
- Sabbath for creation
- Sabbath for worship
I especially love how Swoboda connects the dots between Sabbath and things like the marginalised, the environment and our own personal witness.
This book shows how much more important Sabbath is than most people realise. It’s not a set of do’s and don’ts. It’s a wonderful gift from God that reflects the heart of the Creator and is meant as a blessing to his creation.
It’s also incredibly well written, very accessible and deeply encouraging.
Key quotes:
“To Sabbath is to live as God intended.”
“Sabbath is a day when our hearts are at rest from striving, doing, producing, and – most important – responding to emails.”
Best for:
- Christians who want to understand why Sabbath matters
- Anyone who feels trapped by the pressure to be constantly productive
- People who want to explore the countercultural nature of Sabbath
BUY IT HERE >>> Subversive Sabbath
Keeping the Sabbath Wholly – Marva J. Dawn
Dawn states at the outset of this book that her goal is to provide practical guidance on what to actually “do” on the Sabbath and show how many benefits can be found in properly practising the spiritual discipline of Sabbath.
This book begins by reminding us that God created the six days to work, one day to rest rhythm. And that the Sabbath was never meant to be legalistic.
The rest of this book is then divided up into the four key things that we are supposed to “do” on the Sabbath:
- Ceasing
- Resting
- Embracing
- Feasting
I absolutely love this because it gets to the heart of something we can easily forget.
Sabbath isn’t simply:
“Don’t work.”
Yes, we cease from our normal work and busyness.
But we also rest – spiritually, physically, emotionally and intellectually.
We also embrace – God, our relationships, our calling and the good things God has given us.
And we also feast – we worship, we celebrate, we eat good food and we enjoy beauty, music, friendship and fellowship.
In other words, Sabbath isn’t just about what you STOP doing. It’s about what you START making space for.
This is something I particularly love about Dawn’s approach because it avoids turning Sabbath into a miserable list of prohibitions.
Instead, it reminds us that Sabbath, done as God intended, is something to look forward to. Something joyful. Something beautiful. Something that helps us rediscover a rhythm of life that God intended from the very beginning.
Key quotes:
“A major blessing of Sabbath keeping is it forces us to rely on God.”
“When we cease striving to be God, we learn a whole new kind of contentment.”
Best for:
- Anyone wanting to understand what to actually “do” on the Sabbath
- Christians who are worried that keeping Sabbath might become legalistic
- Anyone who wants the Sabbath to become a day of joy, celebration and delight
BUY IT HERE >>> Keeping the Sabbath Wholly
The Rest of God – Mark Buchanan
In this book, Buchanan presents us with a problem that will probably feel rather familiar…
We’ve forgotten how to rest.
We’re constantly striving. And even when we stop working, we’re often still mentally working.
One of the best things about this book is Buchanan talks about how Sabbath is so much bigger than just a day – Sabbath is an attitude, a perspective, an orientation, a heart attitude.
He tells a brilliant story (I won’t spoil it for you, but it’s a really good one!) to illustrate how nothing really changes until our minds do.
We cannot hope to keep a Sabbath day until we’ve cultivated a Sabbath heart.
I particularly appreciated the part where he talks about Sabbath as liberation. Sabbath reminds us that we are no longer slaves. To refuse to keep Sabbath is to, in effect, spurn the gift of freedom that God has so graciously given us.
Oh the irony then that so many people over the centuries have turned Sabbath into a legalistic set of dos and don’ts!
Buchanan goes on explore Sabbath as a wonderful gift from God rather than another religious obligation.
This book is full of stories and examples that illustrate Buchanan’s points, making this a very enjoyable and accessible book.
Key quotes:
“You will never enter the Sabbath day without a Sabbath heart”
“Exodus grounds Sabbath in creation. Deuteronomy grounds it in liberation.”
“Sabbath is a refusal to go back to Egypt.”
Best for:
- Christians who need convincing that Sabbath isn’t another rule
- Anyone who finds it difficult to slow down and be still
- Readers who enjoy a mixture of biblical teaching and practical application
- Anyone who feels like they have forgotten how to rest
BUY IT HERE >>> The Rest of God
Sabbath as Resistance – Walter Brueggemann
This is probably the most challenging book on this list.
Brueggemann asks us to consider what Sabbath means in a culture obsessed with productivity, consumption and achievement.
And his answer is essentially:
Sabbath is an act of resistance.
It is a way of saying “no” to a culture that tells us we must constantly produce, consume, achieve, possess, accomplish and perform.
Sabbath challenges the whole way our culture tells us we should live.
We’re constantly being told that we need more.
- More money.
- More success.
- More stuff.
- More followers.
- More experiences.
- More achievement.
But Brueggemann astutely reminds us that, “No one can serve two masters.” (Matthew 6:24, NIV)
The God of “more” in the 21st century is the god of mammon from the Bible.
When we choose “more” over Sabbath, we are not just breaking the fourth commandment, we are also breaking the first commandment.
Brueggemann goes on to identify four areas of “resistance” based on four key Scriptures:
- Resistance to anxiety (Exodus 20:12-17)
- Resistance to coercion (Deuteronomy 5:12-14)
- Resistance to exclusivism (Isaiah 56:3-8)
- Resistance to multitasking (Amos 8:4-8)
In the final chapter Brueggemann draws the line between Sabbath and the tenth commandment not to covet. He shows how Sabbath is a powerful tool in breaking the cycle of dissatisfaction, of always wanting more than you have.
Sabbath provides the time and space to recognise that “more” will not satisfy us. It is the antidote to our anxiety that both derives from our constant craving for more and which also feeds our cravings for more.
The book also includes a six-session study guide, making this a particularly useful option if you want to work through the book with a small group.
This book is perhaps a little more theologically complex and challenging than some of the others on this list, but that’s also its strength.
It will make you think.
Key quotes:
“People who keep Sabbath live all seven days differently.”
“‘No-Sabbath’ existence imagines getting through on our own, surrounded by commodities to accumulate and before which to bow down.”
Best for:
- Christians who want to explore the countercultural side of Sabbath
- Anyone wrestling with consumerism, productivity and achievement
- Readers who enjoy thoughtful, theological books
- Small groups looking for a book to discuss together
BUY IT HERE >>> Sabbath as Resistance
The Sabbath Practice – John Mark Comer & Practicing the Way
And finally, something a little different.
This isn’t simply a book.
The Sabbath Practice is a four-session resource from John Mark Comer and the Practicing the Way team, designed to help you actually put Sabbath into practice.
And this is a brilliant option if you’re thinking:
“OK, I’m convinced. Sabbath sounds great. But how on earth do I actually do it?”
The resource is built around four simple ideas:
- Stop
- Rest
- Delight
- Worship
The companion guide is designed to be used alongside four freely available video sessions and includes spiritual exercises, reflection questions and practical resources.
I particularly like the practical emphasis.
Rather than simply telling you that Sabbath is important, it helps you think through what Sabbath could actually look like in your own life…
- What do you need to stop?
- What genuinely helps you rest?
- What brings you delight?
- How can you use Sabbath to deepen your relationship with God?
And perhaps most importantly, how can you make Sabbath something you actually look forward to every week?
There are four sessions:
Session 1 – Stop
Learning to stop the normal activities of work and productivity and enter into Sabbath.
Session 2 – Rest
Exploring what genuine physical, mental, emotional and spiritual rest looks like.
Session 3 – Delight
Rediscovering joy and learning to enjoy God’s good gifts.
Session 4 – Worship
Learning how Sabbath can become an act of worship and a way of deepening our relationship with God.
The four-session structure also makes this a great resource to work through with a small group.
Key quotes:
“Few things are as desperately needed today as the recovery of the ancient practice of Sabbath – a full day every week set aside to stop, rest, delight and worship.”
“Exhaustion, confusion, alienation from God and others, harm to the earth and the poor, and even spiritual death are all the toxic waste of a life without Sabbath.”
Best for:
- Christians who want a practical, step-by-step guide to practising Sabbath
- Small groups wanting a course on Sabbath to do together
- People who prefer video alongside reading
- Anyone who wants Sabbath to become a regular rhythm
GET THE FREE COURSE >>> The Sabbath Practice Course
BUY THE GUIDE >>> The Sabbath Practice Guide
