I Close my Business on Sundays for Sabbath. Here's Why…

There's this invisible pressure a lot of us feel when we’re trying to do something new, trying to build or create something for ourselves…

It's the pressure of doing it like everybody does.

Now, don't get me wrong: the saying “if it ain't broke, don't fix it” still works in many situations. I can think of “boring businesses”, as Cody Sanchez likes to call ventures that have been there for a while and consistently make money (especially in developed countries) such as laundromats, vending machines or plumbing.

Still, there are areas where doing what is not common practice, for the sake of faith and your Scripture-based convictions is an incredible thing.

In Isaiah 8, God sends a message to the people of Israel, reminding them not to think or act as others do, but to put their trust in Him instead:

“Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. He will keep you safe.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭8‬:‭12‬-‭14a‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What does that look like for me in business?

It looks like closing Kayasah on Sundays. No work. No bookings. Nada.

I get a lot of pushbacks sometimes, but what helps is that this conviction and this practice didn't start yesterday. It started more than 10 years ago… before the business. Before openly sharing and talking about it. Before the stakes got higher and higher.

Back in university, I did campus life like most college students: go to classes during the week, hang out and have fun on Saturdays, cram for exams, and rush to finish all the assignments due on Sunday afternoons. That meant rushing to the library before every available seat was taken, pulling all-nighters at the coffee shop when it got rough, feeling the adrenaline rush of writing a 6-page paper 6 hours before it was due.

All this pretty much changed for me the day I walked into chapel for a lecture with Ken Shigematsu. I can't tell you what he shared in his talk, but I remember every student getting a free copy of his book, “God in my Everything”. I remember reading that book and immediately being convinced I needed to start practicing Sabbath. Not as a way to earn anything from God, but as a spiritual discipline.

So, I did.

Every Saturday, I would walk into the almost empty library, find a desk and begrudgingly study while my friends were out and about exploring and having fun. Then, come Sunday, I would head to church, spend the day free of work or school, resting.

It was hard at first, just as any discipline is. I'm sure you can remember the first time you decided to go to the gym consistently, the first time you decided to drink more water, or the first time you decided to give up on your daily dose of caffeine. It's hard. It's brutal. Every bone in your body wants to rebel. You start questioning your entire life. Still, you keep going. Going. Going until it's easy, until it's natural, until it's not even that big a deal. That's what happened with me. Sabbath became second-nature to me.

Now, you might relate to the idea of discipline. But, why Sabbath? What is it anyway?

Sabbath is about taking intentional time in your week to set it apart for the Lord, to stop working so you can rest and enjoy the time, resources and people He's given you.

Some people pick Saturdays, some Mondays. I chose Sundays because it fit my weekly rhythm of going to church anyway.

For those of us who are Bible nerds, this passage in Scripture is one I love and reflect on when I think about the discipline of Sabbath:

“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do. Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.” ‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭5‬:‭12‬-‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The funny thing is, by the time I got into freelancing and business eventually, I had been intentionally not working on Sundays for so long it made perfect sense that it be an integral part of Kayasah as well. This was something I was deeply convicted of. The first time I said no to a photography gig because it happened on Sunday, my heart pretty much skipped several beats. Still, the habit had already been there so the “no” was a little easier to say. And, the more I said “no” to Sunday gigs, the more I got used to it, no matter the offer, the money, the opportunity.

Now, I'm not saying every Christian needs to close their business on Sundays.

Absolutely not. That's the beauty of Christianity: we have the freedom because we’re no longer bound. But, I do think every person that believes in God and wants to be under His leadership should be intentional about this practice.

Here's why. And I can tell you this because I’ve lived it for more than 10 years.

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Sabbath does a few things for you.

1. Sabbath helps build up your faith

When you have to stop working for a full 24 hours, you have to trust that God has your back, that you’re not alone in this, that He will provide. The more you practice this discipline, the more you learn to lean on Him, and so the more you have faith. And, there's nothing more powerful than someone who trusts God for their future.

I’ve seen and experienced Him provide opportunities I could’ve never — and I mean never — orchestrated. Over and over. Time and time again.

2. Sabbath helps you physically and mentally rest

You are on go-go-go mode all the time. You sleep 8 hours a day, but you often feel like you need a vacation every other week. And when you do go on vacation, your work follows you sometimes. You’re on 7 days a week. No breaks. No space to breathe.

Please stop, and love on yourself.

There is so much research done on the benefits of not working 1x a week, of resting physically and mentally. You can read John Marc Comer's “The Elimination of Hurry” where he compiles a lot of the findings on the benefits of what Christians call “Sabbath”.

This practice has helped me, not only personally but in business also. I’ve had some of the best insights and ideas for systems, offers and practices at Kayasah on Sundays where I wasn't actually working, or even thinking about work, and was simply “hanging out”, slowing down, enjoying the day of rest.

Why not try it yourself?

3. Sabbath helps increase your productivity

We tend to have this notion that the more we work, the more we’ll accomplish. But actually, that's not really the case. At some point, our productivity peaks and stabilizes so that whether we work extra hours or not, we don't necessarily make leaps and bounds forward. Again, I recommend John Marc Comer's book if you want to dive deeper into the research behind this.

I was talking to a friend who recently decided to hop on the Sabbath choo-choo-train. One of the things they said, after only doing it for a week or two, is that the practice of Sabbath forced them to prepare for rest. When you know you gotta finish work no matter what by this day and this time, you push harder to get things done, you prioritize items on your to-do list, you plan ahead so that you can truly rest knowing you did everything you needed to do beforehand.

Now, I get that it might feel counterintuitive. So, let me give you an example of a business that practices Sabbath, and still manages to make good money.

Let's take Chick-fil-A.

They chose to tell us why they practice Sabbath:

“Our founder S. Truett Cathy made the decision to close on Sundays in 1946 when he opened his first restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia. Having worked seven days a week in restaurants open 24 hours, Truett saw the importance of closing on Sundays so that he and his employees could set aside one day to rest, enjoy time with their families and loved ones or worship if they choose, a practice we uphold today. ” (Chick-fil-A website)

Now, if we look at what's been written about them regarding this decision, some of the articles are truly interesting:

“Observing the Sabbath won’t make you rich, but neither is it an impediment to becoming very wealthy: Mr. Cathy’s Sabbath observance didn’t stand in the way of his becoming worth more than $6 billion.” (Article by Daniel Ross Goodman on the Public Discourse website, published September 2024)

Okay, let's look at the numbers…

According to a report by Brand Finance, Chick-fil-A ranks 5th with $8,122M in brand value in 2026, $5,658M in 2025, with a brand rating of AAA. According to this report, their brand value is up 44% in comparison to McDonalds, leading with $42,640M in 2026, but only having increased by 5%).

“While there is no official chick fil a stock price, financial analysts often estimate the company's valuation based on industry multiples. If Chick-fil-A were to go public, analysts suggest its market capitalization could exceed $50 billion to $100 billion, depending on the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio applied, potentially putting it in the same league as top-tier blue-chip fast-food stocks.” (Bitget website, published July 2024)

This was a massive example, one that might not fully relate to. And, that's okay. But, what I want you to remember is not the fruit of their decision to take one day aside for the Lord, but the root of that decision:

Intentionality and Conviction.

That's what led to this decision for me as well, the desire for me and my team to set aside one day to rest in the Lord, one day to enjoy not working, one day to Sabbath.

Now that I’ve shared my own journey in coming to this intentional practice, is that something you'd consider too?

As always, I'm rooting for you!

Mel

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