Quick Q&A: Why or how important is it to keep the Sabbath?

Answer: How important is it to keep the Ten Commandments? The Ten Commandments are given as a guidepost for life, and Jesus magnified them—He didn't do away with them—during His earthly ministry. Keeping the seventh-day Sabbath holy is the Fourth Commandment and the keeping of this commandment is a blessing made for man. If we think we should keep the commandments, we should keep the Sabbath day in a holy way. 1 John 5:2-3, "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome."

1. God Himself rested on the seventh day. Genesis 2:2-3, "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."
2. The Sabbath is an identifying sign between God and His people. Exodus 31:12-14, "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: "Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.  You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people."'"
3. There is a blessing to keeping the Sabbath. This is a translation of Isaiah from the Message Bible; Isaiah 58:13-14, "If you watch your step on the Sabbath and don't use my holy day for personal advantage, If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy, GOD's holy day as a celebration, If you honor it by refusing 'business as usual,' making money, running here and there—Then you'll be free to enjoy GOD! Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all. I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob."  Yes! GOD says so!
4. The Sabbath was made specifically for us. It is Holy - a day set apart for our benefit. It is a day to recharge and focus our minds on spiritual things. Keeping the Sabbath is basic to maintaining a relationship with God. Jesus Christ was and still is the Lord of the Sabbath. Mark 2:27-28 (KJV), "And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath."

The book of Revelation concludes by emphasizing the need to keep the commandments, stating that in so doing there is an everlasting reward. Revelation 22:14 (KJV), "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."