Reasons to Keep the Sabbath

Religion & Philosophy

By: litetender 03-Jul-2011

Introduction:

The Bible says, in Exodus 20:8-11, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."

In the days before Christ, the Sabbath was celebrated on the seventh day of the week, our Saturday. Today, the Christian Sabbath is the first day of the week, Sunday, for it was upon that day that Christ rose from the dead.

The following are five reasons for keeping the Sabbath.

God Said So

Without a doubt, this is the best reason ... honoring His Word! Blessings always follow those who keep God's word, and curses follow disobedience. (Deuteronomy 28)

We Need the Rest

We live in a frantic world, where everyone is on the go and our to do lists grow faster than we can achieve them. Our senses are bombarded by all of our modern technologies, the troubles in our fallen world; we are a driven people. When we take a day of rest, we are rejuvenated and restored for the demands of the week ahead. We are following the example of the most high God, who also took a day of rest after creating the world. He's a pretty good person to model ourselves after, in my opinion!

We Need the Holiness

We are created, spiritual beings and we benefit from abstaining from the pressures and demands of everyday life and taking a day out to be still, to attend church and worship, to read our Bibles, and to fellowship with other believers. This provides a kind of spiritual refreshing that is quite apart from the physical rest from labor.

Others Need Rest, Too

Sunday is the busiest day of the week for most restaurants, as they serve the "after church" crowd in the early afternoon. When you eat out, shop, etc. on Sunday, you are by default, causing someone else to break the Sabbath, and to have to work, to serve you. Preventing this way the idea behind the "blue laws" of a few decades ago (back when our country, in general, had more respect for the wishes of God). It seems somewhat hypocritical for a Christian to rest on the Sabbath, yet cause another to labor. It honors the Lord when Christians abstain from shopping, eating out, etc. and are not themselves the direct cause of another breaking the Sabbath.

Exceptions

Sometimes there are circumstances in which exceptions to our intentions to abstain from everyday activities must be made. Errands of mercy and necessity sometimes arise ... there may be an emergency that causes us to have to engage in the activities we would normally avoid, such as purchasing something on Sunday. In such situations as this, we should recall Christ's words, when the disciples, being hungry, plucked ears of corn and ate on the Sabbath, and were criticized for doing so by the legalistic Pharisees. He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."

His words do not erase our Old Testament command to keep the Sabbath, but they do interject a note of tolerance and mercy, hence the admonition to keep the Sabbath but for "errands of mercy and necessity."

Final Thoughts

The commandment to keep the Sabbath, like all of God's directives to His people, is for our BENEFIT!!! His commands are not intended to be viewed as a big hand coming down, squashing all of our fun. They are kind, merciful, and for our good. People who make the effort to keep God's commands in general keep out of trouble, enjoy a wealth of provision and the assurance of His intervention on their behalf in times of trouble.

Give this list a high five!

Comments

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dptstretch 9/11/2012
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This is a great list and still good counsel for today...in answer to Jenny's question: Jesus addressed this in saying that if your ox falls on the Sabbath, you rescue it. Commentary in my bible for Matthew 12:3-7 is that Jesus taught Sabbath law is overidden by (1)Human need, (2)worship, and (3) acts of kindness. H5
BonnieDossKnight 7/4/2011
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Awesomely written. You really searched your soul on this one my friend. HI5
litetender 7/3/2011
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I think when your job requires you to work that it falls under the category of "necessity". My main point wasn't to be legalistic, but to communicate the blessings that are inherent for keeping it when you can!
pamperedpen 7/3/2011
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This is a great list, and thanks for information on why it is important to take a Sabbath rest. H5
JennyHeart 7/3/2011
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What is your job requires you to work. Is this an exception to the Lord? Great list for people's self examination.