Remember the Sabbath

It’s funny, but when I was growing up I always thought the “Sabbath” was some legalistic rule used to force us to go to church.

 

Exodus 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

 

In reality, the fourth commandment, to take a Sabbath, a day each week, and not do any work was a gift from God to His people.  In Egypt, the Israelites were forced to work every day without a break.  They were treated as objects. They were exploited. Many people believe that part of the reason the Sabbath was commanded was to remind them that they aren’t in Egypt anymore, that their value doesn’t come from how much work they can produce. Their significance comes from the God who rescued them, the God who loves them.

The original purpose of the Sabbath was for people to cease from their labor (as God did on the seventh day) so that he can rest, be revived, and remember their God had redeemed them. Let’s take a day this week and do just that.