12 ‘Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.
Message: Keeping the Lord's Day
Time: This book chronicles farewell messages by Moses, the 120 year old leader of the Israelite, primarily intended for the lay person. It covers about one month, at the end of the forty-year period in the wilderness - 1405 BC. It is a renewal of the old covenant given at Mount Sinai to the plains of Moab.
What the Lord is Saying:
The Sabbath Day has always been to me a very easy command to understand, but a very hard command to figure out how to observe. It seems clear - on the sabbath, do not do any work. Once we were lost (a slave in the land of Egypt), but God rescued us and so we set aside a day, an entire day for him. I've had a few moments in my life I think where I have in fact kept the Lord's Day but it seems rare. I remember having Sabbath days of no TV which seemed more like a punishment than a Holy Day. Sunday's lately have become often a day to help my dad and support him. Before that, they were a TV watching day. In Sunday School yesterday, we read about a Sabbath day's walk which was 6/10th's of a mile or 15 minutes and this constituted the longest one could walk on the Sabbath day. I've always wondered about those in the church as well for the Sabbath day is their busiest day of the week.
I think the difference, as Tabletalk calls out is some people do work on the sabbath out of necessity. I simply think I need to think about my living practice and always remember the importance of resting. Lately I've struggled with this, working at every moment, either on my job or on ministry. I get burned out easily. I think some cultures might have an easier time with resting, like my friends in India because there normal practice is a 6 day work week.
My rest though needs to look back to God and to think about what He has done through His death and resurrection.
Summary: Rest is important. Even taking time to exercise I think is rest. Spending time with You God is rest. I need to remind myself of all that God has done for me and that I do not need to keep working, which lends itself to thinking that God is not in control, but I am.
Promise: It is vital that we are setting apart a day to gather for worship and fellowship, resting from our ordinary vocations.
Prayer: O God, you are great and wonderful. I need to remember this continually. Keep me focused on You and what You have done for me, but also what you have done for your people throughout time. Bring back the joy of my salvation continually. Lord, instruct me and guide me in understanding how I need to rest each week from my labor. Give me this understanding and help me prioritize this in my life. Be praised O God.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of July is about the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January, the doctrine of God.
Bringing me to Christ
The Restraint of the Law - the law is given for lawless, unholy, disobedient people, to restrain us from acting on our sinful thoughts. Restraint and Guilt - the law is meant to restrain Christians and non-Christians alike; so that others may see Christ. The Law's Revelation of Sin - The Law reveals sin, at times making it more desirable, and show the sin which people commit and the complete standard it expects. The Law and Our Powerlessness - We are powerless over the Law and Sin revealed. It is in Christ that we receive forgiveness and the power to resist sin. The Law our Guardian - The law is not a tool of justifying me, but rather it is an instrument to bring me to Christ and show me my need for Him.
Guiding our Lives
The Guidance of the Law - The Law is a guide in our lives for what pleases God and what it looks like to walk in holiness. The Antinomian Error - We were slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to obedience and righteousness. Judaizing Legalism - The error of Judaizing Legalism is the idea that obedience brings about God's acceptance of us for salvation. The Deadliest Form of Legalism - This legalism is that one would get too focused on external practices instead of focusing on the heart.
The Law is our Guide
The Centrality of Love - Love and the law go hand in hand. We do not belong to God unless we love our neighbor, and we cannot love our neighbor without knowing and doing God‘s law and loving him. Finding Guidance in the Law - God's Word, all if it, is a guide to my life and I am to meditate on it continually. The One and Only God - I seek to trust and love God above all else today. Images and Idols - Pictures, statues, symbols, art, people are not bad; but be careful about placing too much emphasis on these things I see. Using God's Name Frivolously - Blasphemy or using God's name frivolously are examples of taking God's name in vain.
