I trust as you read this message that your heart is glad. The coming Sabbath is a beautiful gift from a loving God who understands our need for the end of a week’s labor, and the beginning of a day of rest.

During the past two weeks, which included two Sabbaths, our family traveled from Georgia to New Hampshire and back. During this time, we drove many miles with the highlight for our family being at the Family Convention at Fairwood. Our journey also included stops at Sturbridge Village, Washington DC, and Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, with both Sabbaths being filled with many hours in our minivan and a lot of roadway.

The coming Sabbath will be much different and will likely see us not far from home. We know that whether on the road or nestled at home, what matters most is that the Sabbath comes, and we will enjoy God’s presence and the blessing He gives on this day.

The Israelites of old at times forsook their Creator who gave them the Sabbath. Some returned and found that it had never departed and was again a rest for souls. In Hebrews we read, “There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from His.” The Sabbath that they remembered is still here, and we find that the God who gave their souls rest does the same for us today.

For all of us, whether we find busyness or quiet solitude—or something in between—the rest which comes with the Sabbath remains for us. May this Sabbath bring both rest and blessing as we draw close to our Creator.