Saturday or Sunday. The seventh day of the week or the first. Giving God the Sabbath. What does it mean to us?
What if our days off are on Tuesday or Wednesday? Can we justify working on the weekends? For years, stores didn’t open on Sunday. It was the Lord’s Day. Have we lost our connection with our Father in heaven? What’s up, World? Can a Christian maintain a job that requires her to punch a clock on Sunday and still retain a right relationship with Christ?
What about Saturday, if that’s our holy day? Can we shut everything down and still have our society survive? What if all the gas stations closed, as well as the food stores? How about emergency services, or the power company, or the water plant? Should we close those, too?
Leviticus 23:3 tells us:
“Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; you shall do no work therein: it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.”
In antiquity, God’s chosen people were learning of the character of God, how he thought, how he behaved, and what he expected of them. The book of Leviticus was written to spell out the specifics of the future relationship between the Lord and his people. The Feast of the Sabbath was central, and it stood apart from all the other observances. It was God’s day of rest, not just man’s. It was God’s way of saying, “Spend time with me. Don’t focus on your fields or managing your household duties. Put down the dust mop and cleaning rags. Now is not the time to balance your ledgers. Today is about relationships, between you and me, and between you and the people you are in contact with on a daily basis. Just chill, dudes.”
God recognizes humanity as what we are. There are duties we have that we can’t put aside even on the Sabbath. Exodus 12:16 says we are to rest “save that which every man must eat.”
Our focus on the Sabbath, no matter the day of the week our jobs give us off work, is to keep our mind on God, to take an interest in our families, and to grow our relationships in the fertile soil of Christ’s redeeming blood. When we set aside time each week for that, we’ve met God’s requirement for the Sabbath. We will find our resting place in Christ.
When we are at peace in Christ, we will be able to build right relationships with the people who walk the world with us.
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Code: FGO.E.18.16a.vp.kjv