Sabbath Keeping : Part 1

I'm grateful that God does not leave us in our ignorant state in the Christian journey,but continuously reveals His will to us so that we can be "perfect as He is perfect" and be fitted to walk in the streets of gold.God has been revealing to me how to keep the Sabbath sacredly and I'm continuosly discovery new things.

I've noticed that when it comes to Sabbath keeping there is still confusion.Some refrain from physical labour and prepare the meals,clothes and the house;while neglecting to prepare the heart and the mind.So this group does no physical labour but will engage in conversation that is not fitted for the Sabbath-whether it's work,school,TV etc.The other group follow the pharasical route-they make the Sabbath a difficult,burdensome day.Like saying improper things like "you can't warm your food".While some take the Sabbath so light that they don't see anything wrong with buying-whereas this could've been done before sunset.

But I'd like people to keep this in mind:

-The Sabbath day is a joyful day,cutting us from the cares of the world and fixing our focus on God-it's all about Him
-It is also a day to fellowship with our brothers and sisters,hence we are admonished to not stay away from church.

The Bible outlines that keeping the Sabbath should be physical(practical) and spiritual.Meaning,not only are we to refrain from our day to day labour but we are to think only of heavenly things and not engage in topics that do not center around God.So,the Sabbath is a balance-physical rest and mental rest,if I may say so,in that the core focus is God,not our work life,school,etc.And the wonderful thing is,God has told us how to keep it and Jesus Himself left us a pattern.

Exodus 20:8-11New International Version (NIV)

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Isaiah 58:13-14New International Version (NIV)

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
    and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
    and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
    and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the Lord,
    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

THE FORGOTTEN COMMANDMENT,PART 1:

All Christians agree it is wrong to kill,steal,commit adultery etc but the point of diversion comes when the fourth commandment is brought up.And we need to ask ourselves,why is it that we can accept the other nine commandments,which are:to worship God alone,to worship no images,to not lie,to not bear false witness,to not use the name of God in vain,to not covet,to respect our parents,to not commit adultery and to not kill YET we overlook one amongst the 10?

If your argument is,"the law has been nailed to the cross",why aren't you killing anyone and why get upset if someone lies about you or even steal from you?So,from your reaction we can confirm the law has not been nailed nor does the Bible say so. In fact,Jesus said he came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17-18).

How did this law come about and how are we to relate to it?Genesis 2:1-3 and Exodus 20:8-11 provide the answers.Something worth noting:God did not consul the input of mankind concerning the other 9 commandments,so why would he live up this one law up to our discretion to decide whether is of value and which day it is based upon?

Consider this also:" For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹ For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker."~James 2:10-11

And this passage also applies to the Sabbath commandments:we can do all and neglect this one and we havent kept any and vice versa.

Hopefully I will find time soon,I will continue with this series of the forgotten commandment.