"We enter into his Sabbath rest by beginning our week with activities that allow us to reflect, refresh and rest in Christ."
When we enter the Sabbath day of rest, we imitate God. “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” (Genesis 2:2) It’s more than a commandment. It actually is part of God’s created order. Plus, the Sabbath rest is for everyone, not just the people of Israel . As Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27)
The spiritual discipline of Sabbath is about rest. It’s the weekly culmination of our evening practice of thinking over the events of the day just past and starting the new day with rest. This follows the pattern we read in Genesis 1:5, “There was evening, and there was morning – the first day.” Just as God rested on the seventh day, so we enter into his Sabbath rest by
beginning our week with activities that allow us to reflect, refresh and rest in Christ.
The discipline of Sabbath teaches us the rhythm of life that God established in creation. We intentionally choose to honor our creator, not only by worshipping in a community of faith, but by following his example. Our non-stop busyness robs us of communion with Jesus. The writer of Hebrews said, “There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:9-11)
The early Christians originally observed the Sabbath on Saturday, as was the custom of the Jews. After a time, Sunday became the favored day. That was because Christ was resurrected on Sunday so it was called the Lord’s Day. We don’t know exactly when this happened. But we do have a commentary on the Sabbath written by Athanasius of Alexandria (296-373). "The Sabbath was the end of the first creation, the Lord's day was the beginning of the second, in which he renewed and restored the old in the same way as he prescribed that they should formerly observe the Sabbath as a memorial of the end of the first things, so we honor the Lord's day as being the memorial for the new creation."
Some of us are old enough to remember when all the stores closed on Sunday. Today, the ring tones of cell phones disturb the Sunday sermon, text messages flow around the sanctuary and the World Wide Web provides 24/7 marketplace activity. How can we find time to honor our Creator? Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.
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