Every year, 2.5 million Muslims make a pilgrimage to Mecca, a city in Saudi Arabia, to walk around the Kaaba seven times, as required by their religion.

The Kaaba is a black cube-shaped building that is said to have been built by God himself in His first incarnation. Later, Adam and then Abraham and Isaac are said to have rebuilt it, with the angel Gabriel contributing a sparkling meteorite stone. Many pilgrims try to touch or kiss the now-black sacred stone at the eastern corner of the Kaaba, but it is difficult. There are frequent stampedes and deadly clashes. Non-Muslims are forbidden to enter the city and its shrine.

People who visit holy sites hope to receive a special blessing that they can take back to their daily lives. But such places have a disadvantage: only a certain number of people can reach them at any one time. Others will never have the chance.

Is there a temple for us to visit? No, because God does not dwell in a man-made building (Acts 17:24). However, the Sabbath, the weekly day of rest, has been described as a "temple in time" (A. Heschel). Physical places are never accessible to everyone, but we all have the same amount of time, at least in theory.

Those who consciously choose to leave the hustle and bustle of everyday life behind can 'enter' the peace and quiet of the seventh day as if they were in a house. There is no mass panic here – instead there is peace and tranquillity. This is what God wants for us. The Sabbath is a gift we have inherited from Paradise. God himself rested from His work on the seventh day. The first day humans consciously experienced after creation was a Sabbath. Before anyone could work, they rested and enjoyed time with God.

In our fast-paced world, doesn't almost everyone have this need to simply rest? God has provided a weekly opportunity for this and even written it into the Ten Commandments. For us.

So it is absurd that for many people the Sabbath has become so associated with legalism and strict religious rules. It should be a blessing, not a burden. But this problem already existed in the time of Jesus.

The Talmud, an important Jewish religious text, lists 39 activities that are forbidden on the Sabbath. Keeping the Sabbath was a science in itself, a real minefield, because so much was forbidden. But in those days, people said to themselves, "If only we could get all the rules right just once, then the Messiah (the Saviour) would come!"

Isn't that typical of human beings? If I do enough, God will be good to me. If I keep all the rules perfectly, then He will help me.... Even today it's easy to get lost in the rules of the Sabbath. Can I do this or that or not?

But it's really about something else: a space for relationships. God doesn't want us to work 24/7 and lose sight of what really matters in life – relationships. My relationship with God needs this special time. Time in which I don't pursue my work or worldly concerns. Time to worship with others, talk about God, read the Bible or pray. Time for visits from like-minded people. Time for the needy and suffering.

The biblical command not to work or do business (Exodus 20:8-11; Nehemiah 13:19; Isaiah 58:13-14) creates space. But if I avoid certain activities, I am far from keeping the Sabbath. I have a frame, but not yet a picture.

In other words, abstaining from work is one thing. But only someone who knows and loves God can truly celebrate the Sabbath. He fills this day with His presence and makes it a sanctuary that I can come back to every week. What a blessing!

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Bible texts for in-depth study:
Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8-11; 31:13; Deuteronomy 5:12-15; Isaiah 56:2-7; 58:13-14; Ezekiel 20:12, 20; Matthew 12:1-12; Luke 4:16; Hebrew 4:1-11