Why Respect The Sabbath?
The Sabbath
The earth was born then.
Before....there was no Sabbath.
We honor birthdays.
The office is closed on Sunday. The cars are parked elsewhere.
The Old Testament Exodus 20 Verses 8 to 11
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
What has happened that we ignore and break this commandment?
As a society the observance of Sundays (or Saturdays) as the traditional Sabbath has declined significantly in recent years, from a time when businesses across the country closed in its observance.
Oh, yes most offices close, some with no staff working, and others with only phone service messages or a skeleton staff.
But other merchants ignore the commandment and have staff required to work or lose their jobs. Shoppers flock to buy services and products they could easily have purchased the day before, or a day later.
Certainly not all Sunday shoppers are people who observed a Sabbath on Saturday.
And besides shopping, do we see people mowing their lawns, trimming their hedge, or otherwise laboring on the Sabbath? Do mothers work to prepare lavish Sunday dinners on the Sabbath? Do fathers even say a prayer or take their families to a religious service on the Sabbath? Do children browse the shadows of their computers and iphones as they would on any other day?
Moses presented the Ten Commandments from God (including the Exodus scripture above) and Christians believe the Lord has given the Sabbath day and commanded we keep it holy. It is His promise that observance of the Sabbath can bring us closer to Him and to our families by giving us an eternal perspective as well as spiritual strength.
The Sabbath allows us to devote time to worship, and to rest from our physical labors.
In America the work week is typically five days out of the seven days of the week, most often from Monday to Friday. Originally Americans used Saturdays for fun and personal priorities, reserving Sundays for church services and their families.
As society's mores changed, Saturdays remained days for fun and personal priorities and the fun and non-religious "priorities" were allowed to spill over into the Sabbath days. Soon the days when the Sabbath was faithfully observed dwindled down to Easter Sunday and Christmas.
For many, the Sabbath lost its holy connection and observing the Sabbath to keep it holy was lost to alternatives such as sleeping late, taking trips, resting up, and reading the comics that came with advertisements for stores open for business and anxious to have the money fortunate families spent on themselves rather than the poor and needy.
Has it been a good trade?
God's greatest gift is said to be the gift of "free agency" the right given mortals to choose for themselves good or evil, obedience or rebellion, choosing or refusing to choose.
As with the voter who abstains from voting, many Americans now abstain from religion. Religion is no longer allowed any prominence in public schools. Radical atheists protest the national motto "In God We Trust" and public display of the Ten Commandments is not allowed in civic areas and buildings housing official public offices.
Oaths formerly taken with one hand on the Holy Bible and the other hand raised in solemn swearing, are no longer made without dispute in the public dialog.
There is an old saying that goes something like "Give the devil an inch and he will take you a mile on the wrong path to a point where you will find it hard to find your way home!"
Popular quiz show hosts ask contestants such questions as "What was the commandment of the Ten Commandments you broke most recently?" or "Which of the Ten Commandments are you most likely to break?"
For those Americans who felt that regularly attending religious services was a burden to be avoided, remembering to keep the Sabbath holy likely became the first break down on that wrong path that led away from God and His commandments, the family, and a secure faith that still offers the keys to the happiness they seek, but find to be so elusive.
God didn't give mankind commandments to make them miserable. They were meant that we might have the peace and earthly progress that can lead us back to Him, and to His love.
Why are religious texts still revered by so many?
Friends
Family
Work
Health
Nature
Challenges
Shelter
Clothing
Joy
What do you have worth thanking God for?
____________
© 2016 Demas W. Jasper All rights resrved.
