The Sabbath Day

Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy… That’s how the forth of the Ten Commandments begins. Most Christians today believe that the need to obey the Commandments was done away with by the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ. What His sacrifice did, in fact, was do away with the penalty for breaking Gods Commandments. (Sin is the transgression of Gods law.) Christ didn’t come to do away with the law, He came to fill it to its fullest measure. You shall not murder became more complete when Christ taught that even to hate one’s fellow man was a violation of it. You shall not commit adultery became more complete when Christ added to it that even to lust after someone elses spouse violated the commandment. In a like manner, a spiritual dimension was added to the Sabbath commandment. We are not only to cease from our daily labor in it, we are to do good in it; we are to seek to feel the presence of God in it.

The Sabbath Day was made for man, for our good. One cannot argue that the law of God is for our own good and simultaneously argue that we need not observe it anymore. That makes no sense.

The Sabbath serves to remind us that God created the universe and everything in it…including us. The Sabbath foreshadows the 1000 years that Christ will reign on earth when He returns. It reminds us that we can do nothing of ourselves for our own salvation. Salvation is a gift from God. Keeping His commandments is not a salvation issue…it is an issue of Love. God says, “If you love Me…Keep My Commandments”.

The Sabbath is a temple in time. It is Holy time. Only God can declare something Holy…set apart for His special purpose. I sometimes wonder what God would have done if, when He told Moses to remove the sandles from his feet near the burning bush because the ground he stood on was holy, Moses had said, “I don’t want to take my sandles off here, I’ll take them off over there!” (I doubt we would know the name Moses today if that had happened. )

God has declared The Seventh Day Holy. Man has, in effect, said: “We don’t want this day Holy, we’ll make tomorrows holy instead!” That’s not obeying God. That is choosing for ourselves what is good and what is evil…the same sin Adam made. The traditions of men are never on a par with the Law of God. God is clear many times over in scriptures…He will accept only the worship He commands and none other.

The Sabbath is a gift to us. It’s not a work as some would claim. It’s just the opposite. It is a time to step out of our daily concerns and allow God to work in us. The Sabbath is new every week, it is a reminder, a guidepost of Gods Way. Keeping it isn’t a burden…it’s a joy!

Those who see it as an outdated burden only for Jews are missing out on one of Gods great blessings to mankind. Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy…it was made for you after all!