DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- THE SABBATH

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – THE SABBATH

"At that time, Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, 'Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath." (Matthew 12:1-2)

I don't know about you, but I miss the Blue Laws that kept stores from doing business on Sunday. It made Sunday a special day, set apart from the usual business of life. They are long gone, but I still wish they were on the books.

Of course, we know that the Sabbath is not Sunday. The Sabbath was the seventh day of the week, and God instituted the Sabbath as a day of rest in accord with the seventh day of Creation. The Scriptures say that. "On the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made" (Genesis 2:2-3). Then He included it in the list of the 10 Commandments which He gave to Moses. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD our God … For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" (Exodus 10:8-11).

So why are we are not Sabbatarians? The commandment concerning the Sabbath is not repeated in the New Covenant. And it was the practice of the New Testament Church to meet on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 16:2), perhaps because Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week. Five times in the Gospel narrative, it is recorded that the resurrection was on the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; 16:9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1; 20:19). So is must have been an important piece of information.

The Apostle Paul gave insight regarding this question: "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord does not observe it" (Romans 14:5-6). I take this to be in the context of the early church when there were the Jewish converts, who were raised under the Old Covenant, and the Gentiles who were not. This is not meant to demean those who worship on the Sabbath. As Paul said, let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. It is a matter of faith.

However, whether Sabbatarians or non-Sabbatarians, we still need to consecrate or set aside one day as special to worship the Lord and to rest our bodies. What day of the week it is is not the issue. We live in a day when people do not take time to rest and reflect on spiritual things as we should. Even a day of rest from work is filled with activities such as shopping and recreation. When do we really rest?

I know it is not beneficial to live in the past, but I long for the old days when Sunday was devoted to church and the Sunday afternoon nap. I think we suffer when we do not rest the body and the mind, and spend time considering spiritual things. So, give me back the Blue Laws. Let Jesus be Lord, even of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8).

Love, Dad