Honor the Sabbath
“This is what the Lord has commanded: Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.”
Exodus 16:23
The Jewish sabbath is a day of holiness and rest, a sacred weekly observance on the seventh day of every week. After God created the world in six days, He took a day off – a sabbath day, a day of rest. For most Christians, the “Lord’s Day” replaced the Jewish sabbath, with Sundays set aside for prayer and worship, but what about a complete day of solemn rest?
Most of us lead what appears to be such busy lives. With all the labor-saving appliances we have at the office and home, we should be able to take a complete day off from work and chores. Our work and life schedules may not follow a traditional rhythm and to stop for a 24-hour period seems impossible.
If in this modern world we cannot arrange to have a day of complete rest, then we can at least set aside portions of each day for the Lord. Many Christians during Lent set aside extra prayer time and spiritual reading time. Why not continue this throughout the year?
We need to intentionally devote time to seek rest, reflection and re-creation regularly. Maybe this could be on a Sunday, another day of the week or even time especially set aside each day.
When and how do you honor the tradition of the Sabbath?
