Ever wondered how to celebrate Shabbat with your family at home? Want to know how to keep the Sabbath according to the Bible? Looking for ideas to make the Sabbath day fun for your kids? If so, you’re in the right spot! Today we will discover what the Bible says regarding the topic of Sabbath. In addition, I’ll share how my family celebrates the weekly Shabbat.
How to Keep the Sabbath According to the Bible: How to Celebrate Shabbat with Family at Home
The Sabbath Day is a wonderful weekly feast that our family loves to celebrate. It’s a day of rest, reflection, worship, and Bible study. Shabbat a day that our family treasures because it is truly a gift from Yehovah. While keeping the Shabbat comes pretty easily to my family now, that wasn’t the case just a few years ago. Early in our Torah walk, we had no earthly idea of how to keep the Sabbath according to the Bible.
Were we supposed to sleep all day? Lay in our beds like statues? Live in a dark house because it would be “work” to turn on a light? Simply put, we had no idea what we were doing, but we were trying. I am so thankful for the Father’s grace as we are learning to walk out His instructions. This is especially true when it comes to celebrating Shabbat with family at home!
When we first started keeping Torah, it was just my husband and me. At the time we didn’t have any kiddos to entertain and keep busy. However, we wanted to make sure we were keeping the Commandments in a way that was pleasing to the Father. Even though we’re still figuring things out, we have learned a lot over the past several years regarding how to keep the Sabbath—both with and without kids.
How to Celebrate the Sabbath Day With Family
I realize that there is a common belief that the Sabbath Day is no longer applicable for believers today. Many people believe that it doesn’t matter which day you rest on and that the Shabbat is only for a certain group of people. Whatever your personal beliefs happen to be, it is the duty of every believer to study the Scriptures on this matter. We must use wisdom and discernment as we seek the Father’s Truth so that we may live out His purpose for our lives.
I’m not here to debate or argue about whether Christians should keep the Sabbath Day. My family believes in keeping the seventh-day Sabbath and the ideas and activities presented here in this article will reflect that belief. This article is intended to help believers who want to learn more about the Seventh-Day Rest understand how to celebrate the Sabbath according to the Bible and what instruction God’s Word gives regarding this special day.
What Does the Bible Say About Keeping the Sabbath?
Back to keeping the Sabbath according to the Bible– In many cases, I believe that we make God’s Word much more difficult to understand than it actually is. The Scriptures tell us that:
“Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.” – Leviticus 23:3
What Does It Mean to Rest On the Sabbath?
When it comes to knowing how to keep the Sabbath according to the Bible, these verses seem to indicate that the focus of the Shabbat is on refraining from doing work and making anyone else work. And when you refrain from doing the work on the seventh day that you do on the other six days of the week, you create the margin to rest. See how that works?
Shabbat is a beautiful gift from above and shouldn’t be reduced to a list of dos and don’ts. It’s a blessing, not a burden. As long as we are in line with the Scriptures, the way in which we choose to celebrate the Sabbath day is wide open. When we first became Torah observant, we were very careful not to adopt new traditions just to fill the void of the ones we had left behind. We soon found that swinging to this extreme left us feeling like something was missing. And the reason we felt that way is that there was something missing.
Celebrating Shabbat at Home With Family Traditions
One of the most important lessons we’ve learned along our faith journey is that tradition, in and of itself, it’s not a bad thing. In fact, traditions can be one of the most wonderful things about family life. The problem comes in when the traditions we hold on to conflict with the Holy Scriptures. That’s why we decided, as a family, that we would create our own traditions that supported our desire to uphold the Father‘s Commandments.
When we became parents, the desire to create family traditions that honored the Father became even more important to us. We purposed to make Shabbat a sweet and memorable time for our children. We want them to grow up knowing how special this day is because it is a gift from our awesome Heavenly Father. Here are a few different ways that our family celebrates the Sabbath day. Take some of these ideas and make them your own.
How to Celebrate Shabbat with Family at Home
Celebrate Shabbat With Kids: Create a Shabbat Box
One simple and fun way that we celebrate Shabbat with family at home is to create and use a Shabbat box. This humble box is filled with items that help us celebrate the weekly Feast. The contents found in your Shabbat Box should be chosen based on the interests and ages of each family member.
Our Shabbat box contains a few Shabbat-themed books, two candles, a tablecloth and runner, a Hebrew prayer book, and a simple centerpiece for our dining table. Every Friday evening, my three-year-old daughter loves to pull out our Shabbat box from a lower cabinet. Her face lights up when she opens the box and begins to put its contents in place. Our Shabbats aren’t fancy, but we do like to use a tablecloth as it helps to make our Erev Shabbat dinner extra special. I just picked up a simple tablecloth at a thrift store and it works perfectly. I bought a neutral color tablecloth so that almost any kind of decorations would coordinate.
My daughter helps me to place the tablecloth, centerpiece, and Shabbat candles on the dining table. She also helps me set the table with dishes and silverware. Not only does this create excitement around Shabbat, but on a practical level, it’s also teaching my daughter how to set a table and be a helpful member of the family. After dinner, we read our Shabbat-themed books and talk about the special meaning of Yehovah’s set-apart Day of Rest.
Celebrate Shabbat With Family: Bread and Juice
Before we eat dinner, we take part in saying prayers of thanksgiving as we eat bread and drink grape juice. There are some weeks that I’m on top of my game and we have beautifully baked challah bread and grape juice in fancy-pants goblets. On other weeks I’m pinching off a chunk of sandwich bread and pouring grape juice into disposable bathroom cups. Both are special. Both are honoring to the Father. Do what works for you and your family. Here are the prayers that we recite as we give thanks over the bread and the juice:
Blessing Over the Juice
Baruch Ata Yehovah Eloheinu Melech ha’olam boreh pri ha’gafen
Blessed are You, Yehovah, King of the universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine.
Blessing Over the Bread
Baruch Ata Yehovah Eloheinu Melech ha’olam hamotzi lechem min ha’aretz
Blessed are You, Yehovah, King of the universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth.
Shabbat Prayers of Blessing Over Our Family
One of the sweetest times during our Shabbat celebration is when my husband speaks blessings over my children and me. One by one, my husband makes his way around the table, lays his hand on our heads, and blesses us with prayers and kind words of encouragement. There have been many occasions when my toddler has asked me “Is Daddy going to bless me, Mama?” It warms my heart to know that my children look forward to being blessed by their earthly father with a blessing that comes from their Heavenly Father. My toddler’s excitement around receiving a blessing from her sweet Daddy shows the importance of this simple but powerful tradition.
Celebrate Shabbat at Home With Family Worship
After dinner, one of the highlights of our Shabbat is participating in worship time with our family. My husband and I are both worship leaders, so music is one of our love languages–after food and sleep, of course! My husband sits down at our piano and leads us in beautiful songs of praise to Yehovah.
While my husband has been blessed with the wonderful skill of playing the piano, let me emphasize the fact that you do not need to be a worship leader, or have any musical skill whatsoever, to worship the Father. The Scriptures tell us to make a joyful noise to the Lord, and they make no mention of skill or talent when it comes to lifting praises. Don’t let the feeling that you don’t have any musical gifts rob you of the joy that comes from family worship time. I bet you’ve got more rhythm and music in you than you think!
Shabbat Family worship time is a great opportunity to get creative. Pull out the pots and pans, create simple noisemakers with beans stapled inside a folded paper plate, or make “shofars” with empty paper towel tubes. Sometimes the simplest things make the biggest impact on our kids. Don’t be afraid to let loose and have fun as you worship the Father with your family!
Gathering With Like-Minded Believers on the Sabbath Day
One of the most important parts of our Sabbath celebration involves worshiping together with like-minded believers. We are very blessed to be a part of a congregation of believers that we like to refer to as our “faith family.” Every afternoon on Shabbat we gather with like-minded believers, worship in song, fellowship together, study the Scriptures, and, of course, eat wonderful food! Because what is Shabbat without amazing food?
I realize that many of you may not have a congregation close to you and, therefore, worship every Shabbat at home with your family. The good news is that your family counts as like-minded believers! And if it’s just you celebrating the Sabbath Day at home, be sure to search online to see if you can find a congregation that streams their Shabbat service. Everyone’s situation is different, so work with what resources you have been given.
Keep Shabbat With Bible Study
Bible study is the heart of our Shabbat celebration. Our congregation spends several hours reading and discussing the Scriptures. I cannot tell you how much studying God’s Word with like-minded believers has grown my faith. Whether you study with a congregation or with your family at home, make searching the Scriptures a priority on Shabbat and you will be blessed for it. Get your kids involved by encouraging older ones to read. Younger children can participate by listening out for specific words that you give them. For example, if the word “
Honor the Sabbath With Family Rest Time
While we have been blessed beyond measure to have an amazing congregation close to us, occasionally my husband and I will decide that we need to stay home to celebrate Shabbat. There are just some days when we sense that our family needs a little extra physical and spiritual rest. While these days are rare, we spend them singing worship songs, enjoying the outdoors, and napping. Low-key Shabbats help us to recharge when we’ve had an especially busy week.
How to Celebrate the Shabbat With Family at Home: Play Fun Games
Kids love games. And who can blame them? This grown-up mama happens to love them too! Games are a great way to celebrate Shabbat with family. Playing them gives kids a chance to burn off some energy. And what mama doesn’t want that? I especially love using games to reinforce Scripture memorization or Bible stories. I believe the best games are simple and easy to play. You can make up your own to go along with the Bible lesson you’re teaching,or you can click the image below if you need a little inspiration.
Celebrate Shabbat at Home With Children: Craft Party
Simple crafts are a great activity for Shabbat. Like the games I previously mentioned, kids’ crafts can be fun and help to reinforce Biblical Truth. I have found that the crafts help my kids to recall the Bible lessons I teach them. This is because they serve as a visual reminder. In addition, they love showing off their masterpieces and teaching others what they learned. I call that a win!
Some Sabbath days fall on or around the Biblical Feast Days. What a fun time to do crafts or activities that correspond with the holidays! For example, try this First Fruits activity to celebrate the Resurrection. Or, check out this fun project to help you and your kids count the Omer.
How to Keep the Sabbath According to the Bible: Shabbat Ideas for Families
Clearly, there are a million-and-one ways to celebrate the weekly Sabbath Day. I pray that you will find these ideas helpful as you keep the Shabbat with your family at home! I encourage you to create family traditions that will uphold the Scriptures. God-honoring family traditions will help to inspire a deeper connection between your family and the One True God.
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