See, the Lord has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day.

—Exodus 16:29

God gave the newly freed Israelites food every morning throughout their long journey—food they didn’t farm or cultivate or need to go to the market and buy. They just walked out of their tents at the break of day, and there it was—sparkling clear on the ground. Manna. “The bread of angels,” the Bible calls it (Psalm 78:25). Sweet, luscious and free. And remarkably filling and versatile.

But on the sixth day of each week, God layered a double portion of manna into the morning supply, not only giving the people enough to carry them and their families through the next day but also giving them that seventh day off from the work of gleaning. The sabbath was the margin in their weekly routine that was meant to remain dedicated to Him—the boundary around His blessing—a gift of rest to slaves who had never experienced rest in their entire lives. Yahweh promised them that if they would honor this margin, He would make certain they would always have enough. More importantly, they would always be reminded that He alone was their source.

And yet when the seventh day rolled around, “some of the people went out to gather” anyway (Exodus 16:27).

Why did they do this? More personally, why do we? We’re constantly gathering and producing and spending and eating and collecting and keeping and hoarding—beyond what we should, beyond what we need—instead of genuinely enjoying and appreciating what God has already done, instead of trusting that He is our ultimate provider and will sustain us when we honor His boundaries. Like ancient Israel, we tend to overextend, reaching into the margins in our calendar, pilfering from spaces that should be reserved and untouchable, not giving ourselves the opportunity to reflect on His goodness, the opportunity to remember that He is our ruler, not our own strength and resources.

Sabbath was not meant as a complication in the Israelites’ lives, a hurdle to be worked around each week. Sabbath was (and is) a gift from God—a pause, a stopping point, a decision to take a break from going and buying and doing and accruing. It is the Spirit-empowered choice to cease striving and enjoy our God. It is the margin that reminds us He is in full control. It is the peace that comes in the midst of all that whirlwind and flurry of activity. Sabbath is what beats our lives into submission, giving us the breathing room to get our sanity back.

We cannot afford to neglect the sabbath principle.

Stop the madness. Break the mind-numbing cycle. Rest and receive this beautiful gift from Him. With open hands, and with open hearts, let us remember and receive the gift of our freedom.

The gift of sabbath margin.

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.” —Hebrews 13:5