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"REMEMBER THE SABBATH"
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Scripture: Exodus
20:8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."
In six days God created
the heavens and the earth, all of nature and the universe, and man and
woman. When He had finished, He was pleased with His work and
declared that it was all good. He then rested on the
seventh day from all of His labors. When God gave us the Ten
Commandments, He told us to follow His example and consecrate the Sabbath to
Him. The animals were not to be put to work and the land itself was to
rest. Seed was not supposed to be sown in the fields and the vineyards
were not to be pruned. Taking a day of rest was not just a
suggestion. Instead, it was a command for the entire creation of God. Yet often we violate this commandment to rest, even though most of
us would never think of violating the other nine commandments. We love
the Lord our God with all of our hearts and do not take His Name in vain.
We would never make or worship idols. We honor our fathers and
mothers and we do not kill or steal. Neither do we bear false
witness against our neighbors or covet our neighbor's spouse or material
goods. Yet, we are busy people and do find ourselves at times
transgressing the command of God to rest one day out of seven because we
have much that needs to get done.
God set aside the
Sabbath for our time of rest, which was actually the last and seventh day
of the week. But since Jesus' resurrection on the first day of the
week, we now celebrate Sunday as our day of rest and we call it the Lord's
Day. It is our day of worship and we consecrate it as holy unto the
Lord. Yet, it also becomes a day to catch up on all the left over chores
of the week. When I was growing up it was much easier to find a day
of rest because most of the businesses were closed in honor of the
Lord's Day, which left nothing else to do but rest. It also
seemed that life was not as busy and there was more time to take care
of all of our business during the week. However, there came a day
when more businesses began to open on Sunday, and I remember that they
established a law in effort to keep Sunday from becoming just another day of
the week. It was called the "Blue Law" and this law
made it illegal for merchants to sell anything on Sunday except
for essential items like buy food and medicine that was marked with a
blue symbol. I wonder what happened to that law, which is not
enforced today.
I also wonder what happened to the law of God
that is supposed to be written upon the tables of our heart that says,
"Six days you are to labor and do all of your work. The seventh day,
you are to rest." God did not just randomly think of the Sabbath
rest. He knew from His own experience that we too needed the
rhythm of action and rest. It is a spiritual and biological
necessity that we allow ourselves to be dormant, for if we do not find
times of rest, just being alive will become an enormous burden. God said
that man was not made for the Sabbath, but that the Sabbath was made for
man (Mark 2:27). He established one day out of every
seven for rest. He intends for us to consecrate that day as
holy unto Him and find rest and regeneration for our body, soul,
and spirit. Remember the Sabbath, for is a personal gift from
God, which should be received and enjoyed. +++
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