"The Sabbath"

  Why the first day of the week to worship God? Why Sunday? We know that it is the day of the week Jesus arose from the dead. But there is more to it.

   God brought about the Sabbath and in His commandments said, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." (Ex. 20:8) We know that well but listen to the rest: "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work...For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (Ex. 20:10-11) The seventh day God rested. God took pleasure in His creation and rested in satisfaction. "God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good." (Gen. 1:31) As the Lord Jehovah gave His purpose and instruction, He wanted Israel to enjoy the blessings from Him from six days of their labor and enjoy the seventh as a rest. That seventh day was a reminder that God had provided everything thing they needed that week and there is nothing to be added! It shines as a reminder that man is completely dependent on God and not ourselves.

  We turn to the present. Our society is filled with debts and wanting more. We rush to this and that and all week we work hard to make our way, just to pay for the great debts we have accumulated. We work every hour we can for money. The weekends are filled with more debts of spending and pleasures so we go back the next week to pay for it all. The cycle is killing us. We need the message of a Sabbath rest.

  Jesus arose from the dead. It declared Him as God's Son and  He was raised for our justification (acquitted of the charges of sin). This speaks that we are not self-made or self-maintained. It takes Jesus to bear our sins. It takes God to provide our needs. It takes the promise through Jesus from God that He will provide our EVERY need if we would seek Him first. That first day of the week, that day we call Sunday is a day that we need to learn how to enjoy the blessings that came our way from God. That first day is a day where we need to reflect, praise and honor the One who has brought us into the presence of a holy and righteous God. It takes Jesus to intercede for us, to stand in our place, to sanctify (make us holy) us, to keep us blameless and beyond reproach and assure us of eternal life. We need this day to come in peace and turn loose our thoughts of control, fears of not making it both physically and spiritually. We need to reflect on God, fellowship His Son in His Supper, praise His promises, adore His faithfulness and allow His peace to surround us. While we have lost sight of all this and what it means, we continue our hustle and bustle thinking God needs us! We seem to loose sight that God is our adequacy and Jesus is the ONLY hope we have in this life and especially the life to come. We need this "Sabbath rest" and seem to have forgotten what it means!