We kept the Lord’s Day every week
growing up. We dutifully got dressed up
for church, put on our best shoes, quietly drove to the beautiful, old church
across the bridge, and quietly sat in our pews- staring up at the colourful scenic
Biblical pictures on the ceiling to keep from boredom. We stood, sat and kneeled at all the
appropriate times- because this had become habit. About an hour later we finally got to leave…
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy… Ex. 20:8
(the rest is
paraphrased)
Six days you shall
labour and work at your job.
On the seventh day,
no one (servant or not, foreigner or
not, not even animal) shall labour.
A reminder of how
God created the world, then…
Even God rested
(ceased from labour) on the seventh day.
God blessed and
sanctified the seventh day. (v.11; Gen. 2:3)
Then on the way home the sibling
fighting would start up again. Lunch was
devoured without true thanks, Dad went off to work, Mom did chores, we did
whatever we wanted, and God was mostly forgotten until the next Sunday. One time as I left my first evangelical
church with a family giving me a ride home, I noticed they weren’t much
different. Mom and Dad were angry and
expressing it mostly through tones at each other and the kids. It was a very uncomfortable ride and I
wondered how we can sit and learn in church but not change. That’s a shame.
So I won’t get into the debate on
keeping Sabbath, the Lord’s Day (Sunday) or every day unto the Lord because my
point in this series is to point out how we think we are doing okay following
the Lord, but how something we can’t follow something as simple as the 10
commandments. I failed as a child and I
continue to fail today. For even if I
subscribe to keeping one day holy (holy- qadash- consecrated {set apart as
sacred}, sanctified, dedicated), I fail.
We fail because we are human and cannot be holy by our own efforts.
My belief is the real reason God gave
this commandment is two-fold: so we would spend some quality time with Him
instead of work and tasks, and also to give our frail, human bodies a
rest. If we neglect that rest, we are in
jeopardy of poor health. Notice that no
one or any animal should work for all are to have rest (even slaves). We are to remember what He has done and spend
some time thinking of Him.
If you turn your foot because of the Sabbath, from doing what you please on My holy days, and
call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of Jehovah, honorable; and shall honor
Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself
in Jehovah… Is. 58:13,14
Interesting
verses aren’t they. The Lord added His
own commentary to further explain what He meant. Don’t do what pleases you, delight in the
Lord, honour Him, follow His ways, not going after your own pleasure or idle
talking, then you will delight in the Lord.
Wow, what a promise that was. And
how convicting is that- whether you believe one specific day or all days. Following the above I think it’s impossible
to follow commandment # 4. Maybe that’s
the point (hint, hint).
Commandment
# 4 – broken every time
Just For Fun
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