We’re visiting
the Ten Commandments, and today we’ll look at #4, "Remember the Sabbath day
and keep it holy."
Everyone
benefits from a little time off, a vacation, or a sabbatical. God’s instruction
is to rest every seventh day, and to dedicate that day to Him. Spend time in
the Word. Don’t just go to church; think about who you can invite, who you can
take to church. Stay away from work. That includes your cell phone and your
email.
Shabbat is a
great day to spend with family; if not your biological family, then your church
family. The Bible says we are to enjoy three festive meals, and to study
scripture together. But above all, abstain from productive work on the Sabbath.
You may have to re-think this if you work for a church!
Muslims gather
on Friday, Jews on Saturday, and Christians on Sunday. Technically the Jewish
Shabbos is from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday. Technically the word
Shabbat means Saturday. Christians celebrate the day Jesus conquered sin and
death, walked away from the tomb and was seen alive by His disciples. As you
recall, Jesus was crucified and placed in the tomb on Friday, and reappeared on
the third day, Sunday, fulfilling prophecies.
My 2¢: I feel
it’s way more important to make a special time, worship together and honor God
than to split hairs over which day it is. (Some may disagree.) Since I work for
a church, I’m always busy on Sunday mornings. So my family and I often attend a
Saturday night service at a church close to our home.
There is also
the Sabbatical year, every seventh year. God says, “For six
years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your
crops, but
during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It
is the Lord’s Sabbath.” Lev.
25:3-4a
Following God’s lead, Pastors and Professors often take a Sabbatical Year, a
time for study and enrichment without day-to-day obligations.
Next week we’ll
summarize the first four commandments, those dealing with the relationship
between God and mankind.
Norton Lawellin
Join us this coming Sunday, Feb. 10, 10:30am, Jesus in the City
Fellowship (JICF), in the North end of the Oliver Ministry Building, 27th
Street & Bloomington Avenue, Minneapolis. I’ll do my best to explain John the Baptist, just
as Jesus explained him to his followers. Luke 7:24-35
NL
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