Keeping the Sabbath Holy

It's Saturday! Yes, first REAL day of the weeks end. Something to shout about, something to enjoy, something that will be...gone in a heartbeat!

But while it's here, let's enjoy it. For did you know it's actually a 'bonus day'? Yes, that's right. God decreed man would work 6 days and have one day off. That one day off is the Sabbath, which we are to keep holy. But here's the problem...

In what we call 'Biblical days', men worked, women kept the home fires burning. Yes, they worked too, and there were women who had no man to work for them, and you would find them either working in the fields, the markets, or as servants. But most worked in the home for those 6 days. So 'homework' got done daily. Since the women were doing their chores daily, and the men did the same in their occupations, then most tasks were already done and caught up by the Sabbath Day. No problem taking it off.

Today, though, many of our women are in the workforce. They are balancing, or attempting to, work, home, kids, and the many other areas of life that take us out of our homes, and take our time. T I M E ! So we scramble to get everything done in one 24 hour period that we can, sacrificing our time, our energy, our relationships along the way. But come Saturday, the day before our Sabbath, we are still not even close to being done.

So we spend Saturdays trying to get caught up on our grocery shopping, our laundry, cleaning our homes, our cars, taking care of our yards, getting the kids to their activities and being good parents by staying with them there! We barely get started and wham! Saturday is gone, we are exhausted, and there is still much to be done.

Then it is the Sabbath. The holy day. The day when we are to do no work. But I find myself doing my floors, or washing my uniforms, or working at church for a function, or working on my company's lap top from home. I ask you, is this pleasing to the LORD?

I can't speak for Him, of course. But since He decreed we would rest on the Sabbath Day and keep it holy, I kinda sorta think He wants us to do just that. Now, there are situations in the Bible that show emergencies should be attended to, helping others should not be delayed, and creating your meals is OK too. Remember the disciples picking corn? They were hungry. God is OK with that.

But some things just should not take priority on this one day a week that we are to truly give back to God. We should make sure we rest, and as we are resting, we must communicate with Him, maybe a bit differently than we do other days. We should tell Him how satisfied we are with HIM! Yes, giving thanks to Him for His presence in our lives, and for all He has given us and done for us, and zeroing in on 'locking brains' in complete surrender with Him. This is what makes the day holy. This is what gives us peace. This is true rest, when you give yourself up quietly, completely, and deliberately, to the One Who created all. This pleases the very heart of God.

Attend church services, fellowship with His people, read and listen to His Word, and talk with Him directly. If you need uniforms for the next day, wash one. If you need clean dishes, wash them. If you need to clean your floors, clean them. But don't let these things take over the holy day. Do small tasks quickly, get them out of the way, so you have the time to do what God wants us all to do...keep the Sabbath Day holy, and BE holy as well.

Blessings!