We are commanded in the fourth commandment to keep the Sabbath. But what does keeping it really mean? This devotion looks at what the Sabbath is and how we keep it.
Nuggets
- Disciples are commanded to keep the Sabbath day holy.
- The Sabbath is a day of rest, not a day of business as usual.
- We are to focus on all things spiritual on the Sabbath.
- Worship is priority #1.
This year, we are looking at self-discipline. We are using Vincent’s The Lesson of Ripeness sermon to look at the need to grow in our relationship with God. We morphed learning enough to be a teacher into determining some areas we need to grow so we can be mature disciples.
Resource
We have been looking at solidifying what we believe. When we witness, we need to be prepared to explain what we believe and why we believe it. We looked at the Scriptures, the Trinity (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit), man, salvation, grace, the church, and divine ordinances. Now, we are going to look at worship.
This series started off as a look at the Sabbath. It quickly expanded to encompass worship and praise.
We are commanded in the fourth commandment to keep the Sabbath. But what does keeping it really mean? Let’s start off by looking at what the Sabbath is.
Let's Put It into Context
Worship, according to the Holman Bible Dictionary, is “Human response to the perceived presence of the divine, a presence which transcends normal human activity and is holy.”
According to the Holman Bible Dictionary, the Sabbath is “the day of rest, considered holy to God by His rest on the seventh day after creation and viewed as a sign of the covenant relation between God and His people and of the eternal rest He has promised them.”
Remember in Order to Preserve
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20: 8 CSB)
This is the fourth commandment, and it starts out with the word remember. I guess I had always just thought that the law was established when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. I thought this fourth commandment meant to establish the Sabbath.
Right out of the chute, Maurice challenged my thinking of the Sabbath.
Not from this day forward. Not a new commandment I give you.
Maurice argued that the remember takes us backwards because the Sabbath has already been established. He was correct.
“So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation” (Gen. 2: 1-3 CSB).
Disciples are commanded to keep the Sabbath day holy. Holy means to be set apart, perfect, and pure. There were specific laws detailing how the Sabbath was to be celebrated (Dale).
Clayton gave us a list of how we should observe the Sabbath that will help us to not only not forget the Sabbath, but also will put us in a better position to grow in grace and knowledge.
- Prepare for it.
- Make sure we don’t loose our respect of it.
- Not engage in secular occupations on the Sabbath.
- Spend the time on religious matters.
- Maintain a balance between legalism of Sabbath laws and lackadaisical disregard.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
No Hamster, But No Sloth Either
“You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work — you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates” (Ex. 20: 9-10 CSB)
The Sabbath is a day of rest. It isn’t supposed to be a day of business as usual.
However, disciples did have responsibilities for the day.
Adam called me Hebert on my hamster wheel back when I had 100 meetings a month. So, this tells me I am not supposed to keep up my Herbert on the hamster wheel schedule I did throughout the workweek. I am supposed to hang it up on the Sabbath. But I am not supposed to chill and move as slowly as a sloth, either.
We are to focus on all things spiritual on the Sabbath. Thompson wrote, “The mind is called away from all its cares and all its common vulgar interests. The man is called to rise out of the changing into the unchanging, out of the temporary into the eternal, out of the low into the infinitely lofty, out of the strife into the deep calm of the eternal peace.”
How many of us carry our work home with us? Maybe we don’t carry it in a briefcase. Instead, we carry it in our minds.
We can’t keep our focus on work an inordinate amount of time. We have to have a break.
But Satan has us convinced that we need to keep spinning on our wheel so we can advance on the corporate ladder or have the material possessions we want. That is just another way Satan has screwed up what God originally planned.
Seventh Day
“For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy” (Ex. 20: 11 CSB)
We can take two things away here.
- God worked.
- God rested.
God didn’t make the angels create the universe. He did not give the order and make Jesus do it.
God is the Creator.
We have this day of rest because God rested on the seventh day of creation. No, He wasn’t tired and had to take a nap.
Still, God stopped working.
I read something a while back. I thought I threw it in the drafts folder, but of course, I can’t find it when I need it. I can’t give credit to the person who gave me a duh moment.
Anyway, we read that, at the end of each day of the creation, it says that the morning and evening made that day.
Let’s reread about Day Seven. “So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation” (Gen. 2: 1-3 CSB).
There is no morning and evening. We know it had a morning because Day 6 had an evening. Day Seven didn’t.
We are still in Day Seven.
If Day Seven of creation is the Sabbath — the day we are to worship — and it hasn’t ended, we are to continuously worship the One true God.
That makes worship priority #1. Even over work.
Oh, isn’t that a kick for those who think we can earn our way into heaven? The workweek is over. Only thing happening now is the church service.
Making the Connections
Dale compared the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian’s Lord’s Day. He wrote, “To the idea of the Jewish Sabbath rest was essential, worship was an accident; to the idea of the Christian Sunday worship is essential, rest an accident. The observance of Sunday as a religious institution is a question of privilege, not of duty.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
Attending worship services takes a commitment. It is a choice we make – and continue to keep making. To do this, we need self-discipline.
We’ve been asking these questions all along so we can prepare for when we are asked. Here is the worksheet again. What would you say about the purpose and necessity of worship?
- What does the Scriptures say?
- What do I believe?
- Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
- What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
How Do We Apply This?
Keep the Sabbath holy — fourth commandment. Break the commandment, it is a sin.
God tells us to keep the Sabbath. God instructs us to worship.
Hopefully, churches will be able to open up soon. We can gather to sing praises and fellowship with one another.
Until then, find an online church. Churches have websites. They also do Facebook live feeds.
Here are some links if you can’t find any in your area.
Why do we need to make sure we participate in services and worship? Remember we are in dress rehearsals for eternity.
The Sabbath is the day of rest where we worship the One true God to show that we are in a covenant relation with Him.
Father. You deserve our praise. Thank You that You have set time apart so that we can come into Your presence and be restored. Help us to share Your love with all around us. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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