Strictly speaking, the Sabbath must be the seventh day, not the first.  But I find that I do not generally observe either. We do have a different regimen on week ends, though not that much different from any other day.  Saturday and Sunday are my most productive days!

To see this issue of Sabbath keeping clearly, one needs to listen carefully to Jesus, as always:

Mark.2 

[23] One sabbath he was going through the grain fields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.
[24] And the Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?
[25] And he said to them, Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him:
[26] how he entered the house of God, when Abi'athar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?
[27] And he said to them, The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath;
[28] So, the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath.

Jesus did not keep the Sabbath according to the traditions of his time and place.  His best explanation of this is very enlightening:

John.5 

[15] The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.
[16] And this was why the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did this on the sabbath.
[17] But Jesus answered them, My Father is working still, and I am working."
[18] This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but also called God his Father, making himself equal with God.

Do you see it?  Jesus was correcting the OT witness that says the Father created the world in six days and then rested.  No, says Jesus, who is also the Lord of the Sabbath. The Father has never rested.  He is working still, and I am working.

Just to be certain you understand the situation, we present the relevant texts together:

Gen.2

[2] And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.
[3] So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.

Exod.20

[11] for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.

John.5 

[17] But Jesus answered them, My Father is working still, and I am working."

First, Jesus maintains that he is Lord of the Sabbath.  He can do with it whatever he will. What he did was correct the OT record that has always been the basis for both the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Lord's Day of rest.  Moses wrote that the Lord rested on the seventh day; Jesus flatly corrected this statement, asserting without equivocation:

My Father is working still, and I am working.

The Greek is even more definite than this.  It says literally:

My Father is working until now. (heõs.arti)

We learn from Jesus that the Father (and creator) has never rested until now, therefore the Old Testament basis for the sabbath rest is invalid; that being the case, the entire concept is wrongly based.

Routine religious ritual -- sacrifice, offerings, communal prayer and particularly Sabbath keeping -- inevitably becomes a deceptive substitute for true faith.  The bitterest enemies of Jesus were the most religious of the Jews.  They were scrupulous to the point of perfection in the keeping of the prescribed rituals of their religion.  

As disciples of Jesus, we are under no obligation to keep a sabbath day of rest.  Jesus did not rest, the Father has never rested and we are called to follow Jesus, not Moses.

Jesus did not forbid sabbath keeping but he cast it in a completely new mold.  In both Judiasm and Christianity the dominant thought is that this day is one particularly hallowed -- that is, consecrated to God and so to be filled with worship and prayer.  This concept can be summarized in a simple statement:

The Sabbath was made for God.

Not so, says Jesus:

The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath;

Jesus knows we need rest, so he has his own provision according to his promise:

Matt.11 

[28] Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
[29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
[30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Do you see?  It is Jesus who will give us rest in his time and way; but even now he knows that we labor and are heavy laden.  It is his promise: you will find rest for your souls.

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