This is a part of the Command blog series where we’re talking about how the Ten Commandments aren’t just a dusty set of tablets with dumb rules . . . by a long shot!
There is a movement in our generation.
A movement that takes the holy out of the Sabbath.
I’ve been reading through Exodus, and I’ve been so struck by how many times God reminds them to take one day to rest. In fact, He’s so serious that He warns that breaking this rule will result in death.
People want to go to church less. Why? Oh, there’s so many reasons. But my thinking is that the more you love God, the more you’ll want to be in church. So why do people complain about extra church (yup, I’m looking at you, Sunday night services)?
1. It’s commanded.
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 . . . 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
You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. Exodus 31:13
If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly . . . Isaiah 58:13
And keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. Ezekiel 20:20
2. It forces us to rest.
How cool is it that we can devote a whole day to resetting? We don’t have to work, we can relax with family and grow in the Lord. I love that God doesn’t expect us to work 24/7.
He isn’t an unkind God. He knows we are merely dust and need to reset.
I don’t know about you, but I’m a doer. A workaholic. I’d work myself to the ground if I didn’t have moments like Sunday and even shows I watch that just force me to do nothing.
3. It forces us to be introspective + grow.
Yes ma’am, good old instrospection.
We have to look at ourselves before we go to our church, make sure we’re worthy of stepping through those doors.
During the sermon, we have to find things to apply to ourselves.
After the sermon, we look at ourselves and how we can be better and take the lesson out the door with us.
4. It’s a chance to gain good, solid doctrine.
We trust our pastors and, while we should always compare what he’s saying with the Word of God, we trust Him to bring the truth before us on a weekly basis.
It’s another channel God can get a message through to us. It’s a way to learn solid doctrine through the eyes of someone who has trained for it and has more knowledge than we may ever have.
I am growing up in a Christian home. We’ve been going to church almost every Sunday all my life. Too many of my peers are deciding that less church is more, but I’ve decided that at least personally I always want to attend a morning and evening service of church. It’s time we decide things like this for ourselves and do the research. It’s not enough to do something just because our parents do it, amiright? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Are you a member of a church? Do you attend a weekly Sabbath service? What are your thoughts on this?
Take a look at past posts on the Ten Commandments:
tbh I rather think that equating a rest day with going to church can be slightly narrow, but I do believe that both keeping a rest day and having a community of believers are super important!! a really thoughtful series you’re doing here!!
Hmm totally get what you’re saying! I appreciate you pointing that out. The way I always see it is that I’d rather go above and beyond; when I get to Heaven, God won’t look at me and be mad I went to church to listen to His Word preached. But perhaps I would misuse my resting days and He would be disappointed. This definitely helps me understand where others are coming from though! I just want to be clear.
Thanks for this excellent post! Great reminder! (I would like to point out that the Sabbath day the Bible’s referring to is on Saturday, the seventh day of the week. And technically, the Bible never explicitly changed the Sabbath day from the seventh to the first day of the week.)
Thanks for the comments, Cissie! That’s a very good point. I haven’t done my own study on the topic, but this post does apply whether you choose to celebrate Sabbath on Saturday or Sunday. That would be a good study!
I’m a little bit divided on this; on one hand I do agree that Sunday is a day that needs to be kept sacred and safe, but I don’t necessarily think that “keeping the Sabbath day holy” translates to going to church. I live an hour away from my church, and since I don’t drive, it’s difficult to attend sometimes. While I think both fellowshipping with other believers and also having a rest day is important, I don’t think they should be synonymous. For example, on the weeks I don’t go to church, I celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday: it… Read more »
Hey Hanne! Thanks for your comment. I totally get that! There are many circumstances when perhaps you’re in a time of life where going to church every single week just doesn’t make sense. You can be a Christian and not go to church, of course. Sometimes “Sunday People” make the mistake of never finding time outside of church to fellowship. Sunday because God Day and the rest of the week is Me Day, so excellent point. I love the idea of doing an introverted day of studying and resetting. That’s beautiful! I love that you have taken these ideas and… Read more »
Thank you! Thank you! Our society has almost lost the meaning of setting aside or observing what many of us would call “The Lord’s Day.” Whether one day in seven is the Sabbath or Lord’s Day, moving from the Old Testament to the New, we must be serious and keep one day in its entirety to honor our Lord and rest from our labor! Such a blessing is ours for the taking! If public worship is not held high here on earth, why would we want heaven in worshiping our Lord for all eternity?? So, let’s close those stores and… Read more »
Enjoyed our discussion about this at church. 🙂 It was interesting that our evening service was about people in other countries feeling so blessed to have a camp/church experience and even how some people could be killed for their faith in God . . . yet it’s sad we still find every reason to not give Him a big place in our lives. I think Christians elsewhere would be shocked at our nonchalant attitude!