Thursday, October 12, 2017
(1) You shall have no other gods before me.
(2) You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them....
(3) You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
(4) Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Exodus 20:3-8 NIV
What is so important about the Sabbath? How do we “remember” it? Or keep it Holy?
Recall the creation story in Genesis. God made everything over the course of six days and then rested on the seventh. Why did He do that? Did He need to rest? I don’t really think He was tired. Instead I think He was modeling for us what we need to do. We are prone to work, work, work and never take any time off. He wants us to take a break at least every seven days for our own health and well-being.
Ezekiel 20:12 says, “I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy.” This indicates to me that we are to worship and concentrate on the LORD on the Sabbath.
When I was a girl, we considered Sunday to be the Sabbath Day and nobody really did much on that day. We went to church and that was about it. We didn’t go out to eat or go shopping or go to work.
But now, Sunday is just like another Saturday for most people in our country. It’s another day to sleep late or to go to the lake. Maybe we don’t work, but we sure do depend on a whole lot of other people to labor on Sundays. Somebody has to staff the restaurants and shops that we frequent on Sunday.
And what do we do about pastors and church staff? Or first responders? Or hospital staff? They all work on Sundays. How do they protect that day if they have to work on it?
I really don’t know the answers to these questions. I know God wants us to remember Him and His creation on the Sabbath. And He wants us to take at least one day off every week for our own good. But is it okay for our day of rest and worship to be on a different day of the week besides Sunday?
I don’t think He wants us to be legalistic about which day of the week we commit to Him. He just wants our commitment.
LORD, I don’t want to be too liberal in my assessment of the Sabbath. I want to remember you and all you have done for us. I want to make you proud. And I want to rest so that I can stay healthy. I just hope that it’s okay with you if I don’t necessarily do this on Sunday.
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