So what reason would God have to "rest?" For one, He was done with creating. The last day was different because He didn't create anything. It was complete. Just the simple fact that He was no longer doing what He had been doing up that point made it a day of "rest."

Exodus 31:17, however has an interesting phrase. It says that God "rested and was REFRESHED" on the seventh day. The word for "refreshed" is the same word most often used to refer to "life" or "living." God "refreshed" Himself on this day, and I think the connection is that He was refreshed by the "life" He had created. He took some time away from His regular routine to enjoy and reflect upon the life He had brought into the universe. He took some time to enjoy what He had accomplished.

So where does that leave us? A couple of things...

1. I do not believe that we have the same ceremonial requirements that the Jews had (i.e., no picking up sticks, no gathering food, no travelling great distances, etc.) for the Sabbath. There were many specific laws that God required of the Israelites that He never required of the other nations, and even if they were a part of His expectations for a time, Acts 10 seems to indicate that ALL of the ceremonial parts of the law were no longer required. So we should not have a legalistic approach to the "Sabbath" such as no laundry, no shopping, only sing hymns, whatever. (However, there may be some of these things we do/don't do in order to not offend fellow Christians who have convictions in these areas, but that's another issue.)

2. Technically, as you well know, we don't even celebrate the true Sabbath today anyway. Early in Acts, the Christians met on the first day of the week (Sunday) to celebrate the resurrection. Over the next several decades, as the church became more gentile and less Jewish, Saturday dropped completely off the radar as a holy day.

3. Which brings us to Sunday. Since the pattern of the early church and throughout church history is to celebrate resurrection day every Sunday, it's still a good idea. We absolutely must interact with other Christians, and since they mostly have set aside Sunday as a day to meet, that becomes significant. Culturally, also, we have the expectation of Christians setting Sunday apart for worship and fellowship, so we observe it. It is not technically a "sabbath" prescribed in Scripture, but it is a day we generally set apart to be different from our normal routines to do as God did, i.e. reflect on His completed work and be refreshed. Our interaction with other Christians should encourage, motivate, reinvigorate, and yes, "refresh" ourselves in the Lord.

4. So do we need a day of rest? Physically, emotionally, and spiritually, we need time to recharge and refresh. It is vital that you have SOMETIME to do this. For most church workers, however, that probably won't be on Sundays. That day is often the most stressful and busy day. It doesn't have to be this way, and you can still take comfort and refreshment in Christian fellowship, but you'll probably need some other time during the week to unwind and de-stress. You should not have an activity every night in the week. If you have something going on every night, in addition to working every day, you will not be effective. Even Jesus slept, rested, etc. It's a matter of priorities and being able to say no. Easy advice to give, tough to follow, but there it is.

Bottom line? The purpose of God's Sabbath was to reflect and refresh. You should have some time each week to do that as well. It may not always be on Sunday, but if it isn't, you need to make sure you set aside some time for those purposes.