The Sabbath Day!

“Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.” – Genesis 2:3, Hebrews 4:9-10

On the Sabbath day which is Sundays for us, are supposed to be our resting day for us. This is because the word of God states:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)

However, some of us have work during Sundays. Then how we can keep the Sabbath day holy, just like our heavenly father (Ephesians 4:6) has said? Do we suppose to quit the job for its sake? Yes and no. This is because it all depends on the will of the Lord. We should quit the job if we know that job does not match according to the will of God. This is quite understandable to true Christians, because they know that they are always living for the glory (Colossians 3:4) and the kingdom of God (Matthew 7:21), since their actual citizenship is in heaven. (Philippians 3:20-21, 2 Corinthians 5:1) Nevertheless, if the job that we are doing is according to the will of God, we should not quit it, just to keep the Sabbath. When this happens, we should think that every job that is on Sundays is more opportunities to serve the Lord, whether it is the Sabbath Day or not. We can see the reason for this in Ephesians 6:5-8:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

Second of all, the Sabbath is also the day of fellowshipping one another as members in Christ Jesus. Thus, Hebrews 4:9-10 declares: “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.” This is because Jesus says in Mark 2:27 and Matthew 18:20, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.” These verses mean that each of us can gather in Christ’s name to talk and encourage one another spiritually. Thus, the word of God declares:

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11)

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:19-25)

Therefore, let’s keep the Sabbath holy, whether we are working on Sundays or not. However, I believe that we should not just make the Sabbath Day holy, but in other days as well especially who are true followers of Jesus Christ, since 1 Peter 1:13-16 states:

Prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

Overall, I believe two examples of describing what the Sabbath Day would be the resting-day, or the day of fellowship even though other days could be fellowshipping day as well. For these reasons, most of Christian churches do their Service on Sundays. However, the perfect vision of the church, which is us since we are members of Christ (Ephesians 2:20-22), would be:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)