The Sabbath day has become a very precious thing to my family and me in the last decade. It is a central thought in my mind on more occasions than just during the actual Sabbath day itself. It is becoming grievously evident to me that the more my heart is drawn to a holy observance of this commandment, the more I seem to notice the disregard for it in our day. So am I in league with the legalistic weird-os, or is the Lord convicting us of a blessing that has been severely neglected in our contemporary Christianity. If it's the former, no problem, I'm no stranger to being weird! If it's the latter, then the felt burden in my heart for the church is justified.
"The Sabbath was made for man..."
In the words of our Savior and self-proclaimed Lord of the Sabbath, we find a treasure established in creation in this day that was ordained; literally "made for man". One day in seven to practice what eternity will hold for God's people.
When we consider what it is "to rest", thoughts are elicited of peace, pause for reflection, a cease from labors (perhaps to enjoy the fruits thereof), etc. We also might consider that rest is something that follows a goal being reached or an end to a project. It is the celebration of a purpose being fulfilled. This is beautiful for the believer, to find in the Sabbath, a day in every week that to be set aside in order to remind ourselves of God's purposes being fulfilled in our lives, and ultimately fulfilled in glorification. All these blessings determined in eternity by the Father, purchased by the perfect work of Christ, completed at His resurrection, and sealed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. What a gift!
A whole day to cease from our earthly labors and entertainments and bask in what He has ordained for us. An entire day out of our busy weeks solely intended for a "dress rehearsal" of what is ours in the eternal Sabbath. Celebrating the Sabbath is anticipating glory where we will worship Him, serve Him, enjoy Him, and love Him without hindrance.
Sure, we strive to glorify and enjoy Him in all that we do, but the distractions of our worldly employments and responsibilities (not to mention entertainments) are far too noisy for us to focus our minds and hearts upon Him and our proper duties as we ought, and in the same manner afforded us on the Sabbath. One day in seven, set apart, not to be defiled with the common affairs, but sanctified for the purpose of spiritual edification, nourishment, growth, and discipline. Our loving Creator, mindful of our tendencies to be distracted, instituted the Sabbath for us at creation. Furthermore, to prevent us from allowing it to slip from our souls and forfeiting the benefits, He commanded us to REMEMBER the Sabbath day, and to KEEP it holy!
It is a shame to behold, but most today (I'm speaking of professing believers here), do not only leave off striving to keep it holy, but readily look forward, and make plans, to defile it with the pleasures of entertainment and the likes of a little afternoon shopping. We have not only defiled the Sabbath, but I dare say that it is not even considered by congregations or mentioned in the pulpits - there is precious little "remember"ance of the day to be found.
Idle Hands...
My five young children have taught me much about human depravity. Surely, if left to our own designs without discipline, we inevitably digress (2nd Law of Thermodynamics is in order here). This is no where evidenced as clearly as the Sabbath. Just as our little ones will give themselves to whatever fancies their desires (and this is a constantly moving target, particular with "ants-in-his-pants" Zechariah), so the temptations will abound if we leave hours of the day to idleness. Now I will readily admit that one of my struggles is in the practice of self discipline, but I believe I can find camaraderie in this lack. If I don't have a "plan" ordered for the day, then I will revert to idleness which invites temptations to defile the day with that which is common.
It is because of this that I have determined that I must lead our family in a proper observance of the Sabbath by ordering our day around serving the Lord in worship and serving others as we can make arrangements to do so. The day must be planned for in advance. It is the climax of our week and our planning should be appropriate as such. It should not be demoted and given little thought to, contrarily, provisions should be made - clothes ironed and laid out, meals planned and arranged, the events of the day planned out, a good nights rest, etc. unless providentially hindered. It should be joyfully anticipated! We spend much time planning a family vacation, how much more should we invest into this gift from Jehovah?
It is certainly my prayer that more and more pastors, congregations and families, would begin to call the Sabbath a delight and observe it joyfully. I have no doubt that we will then find a tremendous blessing in it!
"If
thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my
holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord,
honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding
thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou
delight thyself in the Lord;
and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and
feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Isaiah 58:13-14
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