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.

Doing Good on the Sabbath

 Mat. 12:12b
…So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 
The Pharisee in Jesus time made many laws based on their scripture interpretation of the Torah. It was clear in the Torah that work was not to be done on the Sabbath. “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work..”(Ex 20:9,10). It was one of the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses. From this, the Pharisee broke down the daily tasks that they thought were things that should not be done and things that were allowed on the Sabbath. They were man made rules that were brought about by human interpretation. I don’t claim to know the mind of God in regards to what can and cannot be done on the Lord’s Day (Christian Sabbath), but God did set apart one day of the week and made it special. Jesus did not do away with keeping this day special, but He did correct the mis-interpretation that the Pharisee had. “And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:37,28) The Sabbath was not made to bring man into bondage, but was made to provide man a day to rest from their labors to focus on the things of God. Jesus said it was a good thing to help others and to minister acts of mercy on this day. Reaching out to help others who are hurting and are in need of God’s touch. What this looks like in today’s world and culture may not look the same for everyone. We should approach the Sabbath with the expectation of doing good. In the spirit of keeping the Sabbath holy, we avoid work that we normally do the other six days. We stay within the spirit of the law to do what is good and right. Let us enter into His house with thanksgiving on Sunday morning, let us put aside those things that distract us from worship and do what is good on the Sabbath. 

The Sabbath Day

 Exodus 16:26, 30, 20:8
 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none…So the people rested on the seventh day…Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
My Bible journaling is an attempt to read scripture and look for meaning and application to the way I believe we should live as Christians. The sabbath day, its meaning,  implication and observation is a topic that many have written books about. From the OT sabbath to the NT sabbath, there is no question that the sabbath is a vital part of scripture. It is one of the Ten Commandments written by the hand of God on the tablet of stone given to His people. It is set apart from the ceremonial law that foretold the coming of Christ and the shedding of His blood. The law in the OT was clear that man would work 6 days and rest on the 7th day. A day of rest from the labors of the week. Additional laws written by man have been added to detail what was laborious. The coming of Jesus shed new light on the sabbath and its meaning. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. Because Jesus rose on the 1st day of the week, conquering the grave and death, and the disciples soon after practice meeting together on the 1st day of the week it established a new day to worship. This day over time became the Christian Sabbath. For centuries, the laws and practices of the OT in keeping the Sabbath have been made part of the Christian faith. It is argued that Jesus’s death did not do away with the keeping of a day of rest and worship. The coming of Jesus did not do away with the other nine commandments. Why was it important that the keeping of the sabbath be one of the ten commandments? This is not an attempt to tell anyone what can and cannot be done on this special day, but it is an attempt for us to examine our hearts and ask God, how does He want me to keep the Sabbath day holy? It is a special day, how do I honor Him on this day? Examine the scriptures, ask God to reveal His word to you, and how it should be applied. The Holy Spirit is faith to lead you and me into the way He wants us to live. Ultimately, in everything we do, we are doing it for the glory of God.

Keep The Sabbath

 Deut. 5:12
Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee.

What was the purpose of keeping one day out of the week special? A day to be set apart from all the other days to focus on holy things. A day to pull away from the 
demands of labor and rest the body. This is one of the Ten Commandments that God gave to man to follow and observe. Many feel this commandment is no longer required in the dispensation of grace. That Christ is  Lord of the Sabbath, and therefore we have been set free from keeping this commandment. The New Testament does not specifically command in writing that we keep the sabbath day as they did in the OT. But, there are many references in the New Testament that the disciples met on the first day of the week to commemorate the life and death of Christ. A day where they gathered together to break bread and learn more about Jesus. Just like tithing of one’s income the principle of keeping this commandment is conducive to drawing closer to God. It is just good holy practice, and God delights in our willingness to set apart a special day in our lives where we focus on Him. Jesus made it clear that keeping the Ten Commandments does not save us from our sin, but keeping them does show that we love Him and desire to please Him in the way we live. Keeping the Sabbath and paying tithe will not get you to heaven, but to those who love Him, there is a desire to do what is right and holy. 
“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the Lord honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words, Isiah 58:13