“Americans pick and choose which commandments they want to keep. Take for instance remembering the Sabbath.” This is what our tour guide in Israel said in a friendly conversation.
While visiting Israel, we experienced how the city shuts down Friday evenings through Saturday evenings for their Sabbath. The hotel we stayed in had a separate elevator for the Sabbath that stopped and opened at every floor so that nobody had to push a button. People did not walk farther than around 3,000 feet on that day. I even saw a sign on a store that read “Open 24/6”.
The fourth commandment found in Exodus 20:8-11 says, “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 male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in 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.”
Jesus came to fulfill the law. He said in Mark 2:27 “…The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
So, which is it? I believe it’s both.
God cared so deeply for us that in a list of don’t steal, don’t murder, and don’t commit adultery, He added to remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy and set apart from every other day. He set the example by creating the world in 6 days and resting on the 7th. He gave us insight into the principle of this by showing us in Exodus how He instructed the Israelites in the wilderness to gather the food He provided for them for six days and on the 6th day to gather enough for the 7th day, so they didn’t have to work on that day.
It’s not a legalistic thing; it’s a love thing. God knew we needed a rest day to stay refreshed each week. He knew the world would get so busy with so many opportunities that we might forget to set aside a day to worship Him and gather with other believers in church. He knew we needed a day to remember that we can trust Him to provide because everything we have is from Him anyway.
What are you doing on your Sabbath with your family? Does it look different than the other six days? Does Sunday have a different feel in your home?
God used that non-practicing Jewish tour guide to challenge me to remember the Sabbath, not in a legalistic way but in a loving way. A Sabbath was God’s design, and I can trust His perfect design because I can trust His perfect love.
God loves and cares for you and your family. Trust Him and remember to take a day with your family to rest, refresh, and worship God. You won’t regret it!
Arianna Eckart
Director of NTS Camp