Some thoughts on the Sabbath
I was reading in the book of Exodus and I was thinking about the sabbath and the practice of keeping the Sabbath. Exodus is where we find the 10 commandments and the Sabbath laws.
I will admit that this whole understanding of Sabbath can get a bit confusing. After all, it was in this area of keeping the Sabbath that Jesus and many of the religious leaders of his day had disagreements. How can I expect that I might know, fully, what it means to "remember the Sabbath and keep it holy." (Exodus 20:8). I am not the only one a little confused about this am I?
What day is the Sabbath? What should I do on the Sabbath? Do I have to go to church? What if I have to work on Sunday? What if I do good things? Should I just rest? How do I remember the Sabbath? How do I Keep it Holy?
The questions go on and on.
As I was reading this morning I was thinking about some of the confusion around the sabbath and keeping a holy day. I began to see that the focus of many of the question are around "doing." Yet the practice of the Sabbath seems to be focused around "being."
When we read Exodus, we and what we do are not what make the sabbath holy. God makes the sabbath holy. Sabbath is about us allowing God to make the day holy and to make us holy. Sabbath is not about doing God things it is about being in God's presence. It is about intentionally focusing and spending a day in God's presence being re-created in his image. It is not about what we "do" or the specific day that we do it. It is about making sure that we take a day each week to understand that God is God, I am me, and I need God. God makes the sabbath holy- not me. It is what God does in me and in my day that makes it holy-- not me. It is me being in God's presence, focusing on giving my day, my life, to God that is the act of remembering it. I think the most important thing about the Sabbath is God. We can't have a sabbath without God. We can do nothing, follow all the rules to a "t" but if we leave God out of it, we have remembered and kept nothing holy.
Have you given a day to being in God's presence this week? Have you rested from the "doing" and just got lost in the idea of being a child of God?
Just some thoughts.
Love today.
In Christ's love and mine,
Doug
I will admit that this whole understanding of Sabbath can get a bit confusing. After all, it was in this area of keeping the Sabbath that Jesus and many of the religious leaders of his day had disagreements. How can I expect that I might know, fully, what it means to "remember the Sabbath and keep it holy." (Exodus 20:8). I am not the only one a little confused about this am I?
What day is the Sabbath? What should I do on the Sabbath? Do I have to go to church? What if I have to work on Sunday? What if I do good things? Should I just rest? How do I remember the Sabbath? How do I Keep it Holy?
The questions go on and on.
As I was reading this morning I was thinking about some of the confusion around the sabbath and keeping a holy day. I began to see that the focus of many of the question are around "doing." Yet the practice of the Sabbath seems to be focused around "being."
When we read Exodus, we and what we do are not what make the sabbath holy. God makes the sabbath holy. Sabbath is about us allowing God to make the day holy and to make us holy. Sabbath is not about doing God things it is about being in God's presence. It is about intentionally focusing and spending a day in God's presence being re-created in his image. It is not about what we "do" or the specific day that we do it. It is about making sure that we take a day each week to understand that God is God, I am me, and I need God. God makes the sabbath holy- not me. It is what God does in me and in my day that makes it holy-- not me. It is me being in God's presence, focusing on giving my day, my life, to God that is the act of remembering it. I think the most important thing about the Sabbath is God. We can't have a sabbath without God. We can do nothing, follow all the rules to a "t" but if we leave God out of it, we have remembered and kept nothing holy.
Have you given a day to being in God's presence this week? Have you rested from the "doing" and just got lost in the idea of being a child of God?
Just some thoughts.
Love today.
In Christ's love and mine,
Doug
Comments