There was a time when people worked all week, then rested on weeks end. Worshiping God and enjoying quiet time spent with family was never in competition with sales, parades, or any other made up event. Malls and liquor stores were closed on weeks end. Long gone are the days when people considered, or even respected God's day of rest.
The World We Live In
We live in a fast past technological world. There is always something to do and a faster way to do it. The quicker one can do something or obtain something, the more time one has to do and obtain more. "You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes." (Haggai 1:6). We may never be satisfied because God is not given first place in our lives. "Instead, be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things (Mathew 6:33). "...The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath (Mark 2:27).
The Sabbath
The Sabbath is a day that God set aside to rest. "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made (Genesis 2:1-3). God had finished His work and demonstrated rest as being a necessity. This is because the Sabbath day of rest is a type of salvation which is found only in Christ Jesus. Everything God did and taught through the prophets in the Old testament pointed to His Son Jesus. We must get our priorities straight. God's blessings will be withheld as long as we keep putting our things, and priorities, above what God requires of us spiritually.
Follow Jesus
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done (Matthew 16:24-27). There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God (Hebrews 4:9).
Where is God in your list of priorities?