Keep The Sabbath

 Ex 20:8-10
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy… Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:..But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.

A lot has been written concerning the keeping of the Sabbath day. There are many who feel very strongly that the Sabbath should be kept to the letter of the law as described in the Old Testament, and others who feel it is no longer relevant to the dispensation of Grace. That Christ's death made the OT law obsolete.  I do find it relevant that the Ten Commandments include this law as part of God's standard of holy living. We know that Jesus says that, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” It was not to be a law that was a burden to keep. It was meant to provide a time of rest from the labors of life, a time set apart to focus our attention on worshiping God. A holy day to focus our time and energy on resting in the presence of Jesus. This law is different from the ceremonial laws given to us in the OT. The sacrifices required by God in the OT were fulfilled when Jesus died on the cross, once and for all. But, Jesus said to keep His commandment if you love Him. What laws were we to keep? The Ten Commandments were not done away with, but Jesus summarized them into two: “Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself.” To keep the Sabbath day is to rest in Jesus, and make Him Lord of our life.  The commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy is fulfilled in Christ, who is the Lord of the Sabbath. If He is the Lord of our life, we have perfect rest in Him. We set aside this 7th day to put aside the labors of life and the cares of life to rest in Christ. I don’t pretend to know in our current culture what labor is and not labor, and I will not judge people in regard to this, but I know that God is pleased when we take time to rest from the labors of the week and praise and worship Him, and to break bread with other believers. I believe that it is good to keep the Sabbath day special and use it to administer good works towards our neighbors and those who are needy. For those that need to work to provide income, I trust that God will open the doors and provide a way to meet your needs and let you take time to rest in Christ. He is the Lord of our Sabbath, and daily we can rest in Christ to meet our needs.