Exodus 20:8-11 - The Fourth Point on our Spiritual Measuring Stick

Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 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 man-servant or maid-servant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in the 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.”

Have you ever noticed that when you are doing a home project, if you do not reference the instructions, the directions, or take measurements frequently, then your project never works out? Our lives are much like that as well. If we don't periodically stop and reference our standard of comparison, if we don't compare ourselves to the marks on our spiritual measuring tape, then we won't match the pattern that we are trying to become. This week, we look at the fourth mark on our meta-spiritual ruler, the Fourth Commandment and the last of those that are overtly man's responsibilities to God. We look at the Law of the Sabbath.

God created the Sabbath as a day of rest. First He took a day of rest, then He ordained it as a mandatory  observance for His followers, but did He intend for it to be something to worship Him or something for the betterment of mankind? That is a puzzling question!  He answers it in Mark 2:27 “Then He said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.'” It seems fairly obvious when we go to the New Testament that the day of rest was for us, not just as a method of worship, but also as a method of recuperation.  Recent scientific studies have shown that people need to have a day of rest every week so that when working we can reach peak performance – they show that we accomplish more when we have one day to rest than if we don't rest at all or just sporadically. We also do a better job and pay more attention to details when we have a day of rest each week. Finally we tend to get along better with each other, suffer less depression, and experience a more convivial communal atmosphere when we all get the rest we need.  God created the Sabbath, the day of rest for us so that we would be healthier mentally and physically, and yes, spiritually.

Do we keep the sabbath though? Do we really have a day dedicated to rest each week? On your days off from work, do you actually spend an entire day resting and relaxing – not just sleeping, but doing nothing that could be work? Do you spend a day doing things you enjoy that refresh and rejuvenate you? Or do we take care of things around the house, run errands, sand tress over things that we need to do at work? Do we end up spending our free day(s) each week doing laundry, vacuuming the floor, doing the dishes, cleaning the bathroom, chasing down personal errands such as the bank or necessary shopping? Are we really resting? Certainly God seems to have intended the Sabbath for our benefit, but does that make it any less a commandment to follow? Are we willing to put aside everything that is rushing and looming over us, needing to be done when we have time? Are we willing to say “Okay, Lord, this day, I will rest, relax, and be lazy and rejuvenating my mind, body, and soul”? Are we really keeping this Fourth Commandment or are we just giving it lip service or obeying the letter of the law and not the spirit? This is a question we have to ask ourselves and answer honestly.

This week, then, lets make more effort to accept that we are to have a day of rest, a day free from the responsibilities of daily life, a day to relax and praise God for this wonderful gift. This day, this seventh  day, this Sabbath, this is part of our tithe to God, part of the tithe of our time.