When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, which includes thou shall not steal and thou shall not murder was the command to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Why would God hold such high regard for a day of rest and spiritual rejuvenation?

Well, for one He knows that when left solely to our own choices, we tend to invest our time in trivial, counterproductive things. The successes of online games such as Farmville, and platforms like Facebook are testaments to this fact. As would be expected, studies have shown that these things tend to make people less happy, all while wasting time that could be spent elsewhere.

Secondly, and most importantly, we tend to take the most valuable elements of our lives, our families & friends, for granted. So much so that even when we find the time to spend together, too often we allow ourselves to gravitate back to our devices to pursue those trivial, counterproductive things. Ultimately, spending time together but not truly spending time together.

This is one of the reasons why my family has instituted a version of the Sabbath that is in keeping with those two reasons. So from sunup to sundown on Sunday, we leave the TV off, and our devices & computers put away. We also try to make as little work for ourselves as possible that day. The meals we eat are easily prepared, easily cleaned up (usually thanks to paper plates), and dinner is usually delivered.

After the first couple Sundays, my wife and I realized just how much our devices are really time-suckers and how ungratifying they really are. We also realized that unplugging only works when we all wish to disconnect. Luckily for us, our children are still very young and not overly entranced by technology yet, and there weren’t any rooted addictions to battle. So it didn’t take long for us to realize the benefits of unplugging. We’re all happier for it. Especially our children. They’re getting more and better quality time with mommy and daddy. They absolutely love it.

All of the Bible’s guidance was given to us with the ultimate goal of living happy, fulfilled lives with Christ. He wanted us to dedicate time to what was most important. I realize that it is not required of us as Christians and that not every schedule or lifestyle can accommodate unplugging. Thankfully, Jesus fulfillment of the law frees us from the requirement to keep to the specifics of the Jewish code, He allows us to keep it in the ways that we can, and at the times that we wish. If my family’s results are any indicator, it’s well worth it to try it.