Sabbath Rest
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work...For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." --Exodus 20:8-9,11
Since this is a study on the ten-commandments, we knew that this topic would be coming up, the Sabbath. Oh boy, here we go. Begin arguments on both sides about which day is the Sabbath, or whether the Sabbath should be kept. Ok now end them. I'm not going to be talking about Biblical support for either side. My purpose in this blog is to share what specific Bible verses mean to me. If that means that it's in line with the particular denomination that I belong to, so be it. I hope that we can still have conversation even if we disagree on the topic, and maybe come up with some good principles from it at the same time.
These days people worship on the day that they see fit to worship on. Most Christians worship on Sunday, others do not believe that any particular day is sacred and that Sabbath is any day that one would worship on. So many different ideas, so many different thoughts, so many differences. Is it important which day that we worship on? No doubt this is the argument that would happen if we were to be talking about this in person.
As many of you know I'm a Seventh-day Adventist. Which means I take this fourth commandment from God literally. I believe that the seventh day, or Saturday, is the true Sabbath. That being the case, I honor and rest on the Sabbath, and I believe that the Sabbath is something that is very important. The day to me is a day that I honor God's creative power and follow His example at creation where He rested on the seventh day.
Why do I do this? Well first and foremost I do it because I love God and want to obey Him. My relationship with Him is getting closer and closer everyday and I find myself wanting to do what He asks me to. Obeying is a word that I would use. I find myself obeying because I love Him. I believe that it is important to keep the Sabbath day. Now does that mean I believe that if you do not keep the Sabbath day you won't be saved? No way. One things I must make clear is that I am not God. I don't decide who goes to heaven and who doesn't. My job is to witness to the grace and love that Christ has given me and is offering you and to share Biblical truths that I have discovered on my spiritual journey.
What is the Sabbath anyway? Traditionally it is a day where one rests and worships God. In the Old Testament the Jews would not do any work on that day and would spend it in worship of God. Unfortunately later on in their history they would make all sorts of laws that would make the Sabbath a burden instead of a delight. They could only walk so far on the Sabbath, and they could not start a fire or extinguish it, and there was more. All these were to put a "hedge" around the Sabbath so they would not break the commandment. I don't ascribe to this view. I believe when Christ said "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" --Mark 2:27, He was saying that the Sabbath was for us. We were to use the Sabbath as a day where we rest and worship Him. A day that God made just for us!
So if you don't believe that Saturday is the Sabbath, I encourage you to do some digging and research and find out what you believe about the Sabbath. I also encourage you to take a day off each week where you can rest. A candle burning at both ends doesn't last very long.