Before I get into this I want to clarify my goal whether I am speaking to you through a BLOG or a Podcast. My goal is to provoke you to think about how you are living your life as a Christian. To consider your calling to leave the world behind and pursue God. To make your relationship with God the priority in your life - and not just a slogan on the wall or on the screen at church. For the next few minutes I will be addressing the Sabbath and what I believe our attitude should be with respect to honoring it. What we do with respect to the Sabbath is a spiritual act - a heart commitment and not just one more thing that you add to your calendar of events.
What is our level of commitment to God supposed to be? Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength. Matthew 22:37
When I was in the Army Flight school one of my instructor pilots on the UH-1 would tell us what he called little known but interesting facts.
The Sabbath is not just for the Jewish community or legalistic Christians
First a review – which is telling you something you should already know. The Sabbath, (from the Hebrew word shabbat, meaning to “cease,” or “desist”), is a day of holiness and rest observed by people of the Jewish faith from sunset on Friday to nightfall of the following day. That time division follows the biblical story of creation: “And there was evening and there was morning, one day” (Genesis 1:5). The majority of other Christian denominations recognize Sunday - the day that Jesus was resurrected - as the Sabbath, as the Biblical day of rest under the New Covenant - kind of.....
I am currently reading in the Book of Ezekiel, which is what got me thinking about how I observe the Sabbath. God is speaking through Ezekiel, His prophet to the Elders and nation of Israel.
“But I [Jehovah God] said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols. I am the Lord your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’ “Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and were not careful to observe My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; but they profaned My Sabbaths. Ezekiel 20:18-21
Observing the Sabbath has spiritual significance. God said - It ... "will be a sign between Me [God] and you [His children], that you may know that I am the Lord your God.
So we observe the Sabbath to remember God.
So what does "observe" mean?
There is a spectrum of responses to that question. On the extreme end -
When I was a child many states, counties and cities enforced what were known as Blue Laws. A Blue law is designed to prohibit or limit the transaction of commercial business or the holding of recreational activities on Sundays – the Christian Sabbath. In some states that included purchasing anything that could be used for work - such as a hammer or nails. They also included prohibiting the sale of alcohol and not allowing certain businesses to operate on Sundays. Blue Laws are still in effect today in some places.
At the other end of the spectrum is limiting your observation to attending a Church service - every Sunday is good but attending now and again satisfies the intent.
Recently I was driving past a municipal ball park complex one Sunday morning and noticed that the parking lots were full and the fields were "bee hives" of activity. I don't think that the focus of the adults who had brought their children to play softball was so they could honor and remember God.
It was not that long ago that such activities were not scheduled on Sunday - intentionally. But like most things - The Christian frog was in the cultural pot and the water was getting hotter. It was not long that parents were choosing to forgo church so their children could play sports - baseball, softball, soccer.
If I were to take a survey I suspect I would find that most Christians will say that Sunday is the day you go to church - or if you don't feel like going to be with other Christians then stream it into your home - I mean streaming the service is almost the same thing as attending right? Uh - no it isn't the same thing! Not if you are physically able to attend church in person it is the best alternative.
Hebrews 10:24-25 says “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
OK - but after church - the rest of the day is for me right? - I can give God a couple of hours in the morning. Seems reasonable
Isaiah 29:13
Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me
Many of the "more enlightened" will say that you are being legalistic if you promote the idea of respecting the Sabbath in such an "extreme" way. The idea of dedicating one day out of seven and giving God the whole day seems foreign and extreme.
Let me make it clear what I am saying here. I am not saying that we should be sitting in a pew all day. I am saying that we should devote the day to the Lord and our rest from the world. I remember when I was a child that Sunday afternoons were dedicated to visiting friends and family. Having Sunday dinner in someone's home. Disengaged from the culture and external activities. Coming up for a breath of Spiritual air if you will.
If you were to choose to do anything on the Sabbath, apart from attending church perhaps a good way to decide would be asking the question, "Does what I intend to do honor God?"
- Philippians 3:18-20
For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ
Observing the Sabbath "will be a sign between God and His children, that they may know that He is the Lord their God.
Would it be too radical to say that I worship God at church and am tempted to worship my culture at home? I know people whose days are slam full of activities and there is literally no discretionary time that they can offer to God.
Should not our home be a place where God is honored and remembered all the time? As Gandalf said to the Balrog - a fiery demon in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Fellowship of the Ring" - You Shall Not Pass!, so should we say to the culture's intervention into our homes - particularly on the Sabbath day of rest.
The day we said "Jesus is Lord and God the Father raised Him from the dead" - the day we were born again - our allegiance and hearts were surrendered to God. And on that same day - at that same moment - the world began to chip away at that new devotion in our hearts to push God aside and put self in its place.
I want to encourage you to ......
Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone
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