According to the Bible, God's Word, the Sabbath Day is the 7th day of the week, which is from sundown on Friday night to sundown on Saturday night. Jesus, (God the Creator, Colossians 1:15, 16), made the Sabbath Day at Creation for all mankind. (The Jewish people were not in existence yet. Genesis 2:2-3). This explains why the 4th Commandment begins with the word, "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy." This is also why Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27-28). In that statement, Jesus is clearly referring back to Creation and re-stating that the 7th day is His day, the true Lord's Day.
Genesis 2:3 says that "God blessed the 7th day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." It was God Who "sanctified" the Sabbath Day, making it "holy and set apart". Because He rested from His work on that day, He commands that no work is to be done on it - either by us or by our causing other people to work on that day for us. (Exodus 20:8-11). Since God is our Father and we are His children, we are to follow in His footsteps.
The Sabbath is a day to be different from the other 6 days in our week. Many Christians think it doesn't matter which day of the week we worship God on. It's important that we remember that God never called the first day of the week (Sunday) "holy" or any of the other 5 days. The Sabbath Day, which is the 7th day of the week, is the only day which God called "holy" and by doing so, He consecrated it to Himself as a day for us to shut the world out so we can spend time in worship, fellowship, and relationship with Him.
Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14:15). Since the Sabbath Day is one of God's Ten Commandments, the first reason we are to honor the Sabbath Day is because of our love for Jesus Christ and the grace He has so richly poured out upon us for our salvation. Secondly, because of all that He's done for us, it should be our heart's desire to be obedient to His Word and to all of His commandments. As David the Psalmist said in Psalm 119:174, "Your law is my delight."
7 comments:
Hey I'm still learning much of this stuff and I've been wondering how to keep the sabbath. I get the bit about not working or making others work for you but is it wrong to watch a film or read a book on the sabbath? After all those things are restful and I know God likes us to enjoy good things in life with Him
The Sabbath Day is a day set apart for us to have a relationship with our Creator God. If the book you are reading or the film you are viewing is glorifying God and/or helping you in your relationship with God, then that is something good to do.
So it isn't ok to read secular novels
If you'd like, Wendy, you might find my post on June 22, 2010 helpful - "The Apostasy and Uncircumcised Hearts". If we are Christians, obedience should be something we feel we "want" to do, not something we feel we "have" to do. It is a heart thing of our love for God. I think "legalism" is when someone "adds to or takes away from" God's Word and then tells you that is God's law. When it comes to what books you read on the Sabbath, that is really between you and God. Do you believe that is something that will make Him "smile"? (My definition of what glorifying Him is all about.) I Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." Just follow the peace in your heart.
I have had many interactions with Sabbath keeping folks. The one thing I find strange with many of them (not all of them) is they focus on the Sabbath, yet, most of them do not speak about "Do not commit adultery". Jesus clearly said in Lk 16:16-18 (in regards to His law not passing away): "whosoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery and whosoever marries her that is divorced, commits adultery". Adultery, as defined by Jesus, is WIDESPREAD in the professing Church, yet there is very little discussion on it. Many people who are in adulterous unions are some of the most aggressive rebukers of those who do not keep a "day" holy. Very odd to me.........
In response to Lastblast's comment, I am totally in agreement. As I write about many Christians who focus on the 9 Commandments of God but fail to "Keep the Sabbath Day holy", so there are Christians who focus so much on keeping the Sabbath Day holy that they fail to focus on the other 9 commandments. Many people worship on Sunday because that is the thing they were raised up to do, but they have never researched history or even the Bible for themselves to find out the truth about the Sabbath Day. I have found that there are many Sabbath-keepers who were raised up as young children in churches meeting on Saturdays. Some are only going to church on Saturday because their parents and grandparents went on Saturday - it is just the thing to do. It's not because they love the Lord so much with all their heart that they are wanting to do it to love, obey and serve Him. If you don't love the Lord God with all of your heart, then it's not that hard to commit adultery, to covet, to dishonor parents, or to break any of the other commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ. I appreciate you sharing this observation. God bless!
Hi Christine,
I was so blessed by the conversation pertaining to Creflo Dollar's False Doctrine of God's Law. My finance attends his church, but my spirit knew something was, "off" with his "grace" message. Thank you SO MUCH for the truth of God's Word. I know I'm commenting off the subject of the Sabbath, but I am very excited to have found you to make a comment. :)
God bless.
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