Sabbath Thoughts 09

I asked a very good friend of mine a simple question (okay, so maybe it is a complicated question!):

If God came to you and said, "I gave you the Sabbath, as a gift, it is My special gift to you . . . will you keep it? Do you love me enough to keep it even if you don't understand all My reasons?"

Would your reply be: "Well, I believe that by accepting Jesus I don't have to keep the Sabbath, God, I believe Jesus nailed that one commandment to the cross, and so I'm perfectly happy worshipping You every day, seven days a week! Isn't this good enough for You, God?"

And God says: "Yes, but I have written it throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, that I WANT you to work six days, and rest one -- I want you to WORK Sunday through Friday, and then I want you to take Sabbath off, and not even do your regular worldly pleasures, but focus on Me, take a special delight in Me, honor my Sabbath and honor Me -- will you do it?"

What would you say to Him? It's too complicated, I'll just keep doing what I've been doing. I love You, and everything, Father, but don't ask me to do this,

because my family just ain't gonna understand? You say the Seventh, Lord, but I interpret this to mean "one in seven." Isn't this okay, Lord?

Here is my friend's reply to this hypothetical dialogue:

Yes, if God actually came and said something like that to me, not only would I wake up and jump for joy and sit down and write all about it to you and express my happiness, but I'd have a hard time keeping my mouth shut about it to everybody else and convince as many as I can to rest on the Blessed day, as I would make a point to do.

... and then I got up this morning (last paragraph was written last night) and it made even more sense. Just the fact that GOD actually rested on the Sabbath, so that kinda wipes out the "we now have Jesus living within us, so we don't have to set a day aside anymore cause we walk with Him every day...." theory. Wow (and I haven't even finished my share of green tea yet).

And you know the funny thing is, most of the people (including me) that argue this don't spend enough time with Him every day (usually very little, actually), and so if we DID devote the Sabbath to it (which was blessed for it), we'd probably be devoting a lot more time to Him than we say we do by doing it "every day..." That's kinda the case with me anyway.

Another funny thing that I thought about this morning regarding this is just the simple fact that it's a day to REST for crying out loud, and we strive so hard to prove it unnecessary, which I think is almost funny; I mean, I understand if it was a day where we had to DO something, than okay, some of us could be lazy and not fulfill whatever it is we need to be DOING, but it's just simply resting, doing nothing, where we're actually not responsible to fulfill any difficult tasks, but just to rest. You know, it's almost like if God saying, "watch this, I'll give them this one commandent here where they actually don't have to do anything and they'll break even THAT one!" If it was a commandment to brush your teeth at least once a day, which most of us do, I bet a lot more people would probably find it harder to do all of a sudden (which I know is pretty disgusting, but it's just an example that came to mind)..

My friend wrote me that incredible answer AFTER a night of sleep (and a morning green tea). I was stunned. This is a person who has been raised in Pentecostal circles, taught that Sunday is the "real" Sabbath, taught that "Jesus is the real Sabbath," and has not given much thought to it at all -- she even thought I was more than a little nutty for thinking the Sabbath is a special issue! I have been studying the connotations of the Sabbath, the Biblical evidences, the logic, the reasons, the blessings, and she just popped up with some thoughts I had never really had before! And they were very good thoughts, thoughts that pretty much close the whole book on all the "evidences" of the Sabbath haters. (Watch sometimes, as they begin their list, which usually includes, we can't find a place in the NT where the Sabbath was reiterated, a whole bunch of Christians just can't be wrong, can they? And Jesus nailed His Holy Day to the cross!)

I told her that I think God had already talked to her! And the feeling that she imagined herself experiencing? YES, that is exactly what happens when you find God's holy Truths! You want to tell others! You want to share! If we lived in world where everyone went around commiting adultery with each others' spouses, the great "teachers" declared that the adultery commandment was "nailed to the cross," and we suddenly realized that God's will cannot be changed, it cannot be nailed to a cross? What He has declared holy still stands as holy? Well we wake up and suddenly we want to help others get out of the darkness they are walking in!

But of course, God has talked to all of us, before, and today. He has already communicated these things to us, in His Word. He has already told us all of this, for our good, for our blessing, for our happiness, for our contentment -- He has expressed His will!

I delight to do thy will,

O my God: yea, thy law

is within my heart.

Psalms 40:8

If you haven't thought about it before, think about it now, God rested on the Sabbath. He just created the world, and then He rested. And He blessed the day of rest, He hallowed it. In Hebrew, this rest is known as Sabbath, or Shabbat -- and we are invited into this rest! It is a gift, a free gift to the whole world.

Then think about this, we don't have to go back to Creation week. The Bible says that Jesus kept the Sabbath, it was His tradition (the tradition of God!) and we are told to follow His example!

And this ain't hard stuff, this is the good stuff. Honey from God! This is about DELIGHT! Maybe it would be better if I wrote it like this: dELiGhT! You kinda get the feeling fo the bubbling joy. The Sabbath can be that way to you, TODAY. You can spend your whole week looking forward to the approach of the Sabbath, the closer it gets, the more you want it! Until Friday night you are ready to throw yourself at the feet of God and enjoy Him, DELIGHT in Him, praise Him, and rest from the world (actually take a break from all that nonsense, all the hate, all the chaos, and allow a little order into your life! a little peace!).

The Book of Hebrews, Chapter 4, presents the Sabbath as a symbol of God's grace to us. By keeping the Sabbath (a Sabbath-keeping remains to the people of God!) we are representing the spiritual truth of entering into the Realities of all realities, Jesus Christ, Yahshua the Messiah. And it's open to you TODAY. You can have this free gift of yours, a gift given to you before you were born -- take it today!

As my friend said, "it is a day to REST for crying out loud!"

I can apply a hearty AMEN to that. A day to rest. Aren't you tired? Worn out? Don't you want to rest in Jesus, allow Him to carry your heaviest of burdens?

Come unto me, all ye that labour

and are heavy laden, and I will

give you REST. Take my yoke

upon you, and learn of me; for

I am meek and lowly in heart:

and ye shall find REST unto your

souls. For my yoke is easy, and

my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30

If you have some unique thoughts on the Sabbath of God, please feel free to e-mail me and share your thoughts (you don't have to worry about me putting your thoughts on a web page, unless you don't mind, then I just might put your thoughts on a web page, in the spirit of enlightening others, but it's really up to YOU), I'd love to hear from you. The Word of God is truly miraculous, and we can never find everything that God has placed for us to discover, even if we live to be a thousand!

Sabbath Thought #10

Will the Sabbath become

an Issue at the End of Days?

If ye then,

being evil,

know how

to give

good gifts

unto your

children,

how much

more shall

your Father

which is in

heaven give

good things

to them that

ask him?

Matthew 7:11

God gives us good gifts, He gave us the Sabbath, do you believe Him? Or is the Sabbath a day of dread, instead?

The Sabbath is our gift from God, the first gift in the Garden of Eden!

Do not err,

my beloved

brethren.

Every good

gift and

every

perfect gift

is from above,

and cometh

down from

the Father

of lights, with

whom is no

variableness,

neither shadow

of turning. Of

His own will

begat he us

with the Word

of Truth, that

we should be

a kind of

firstfruits

of His

creatures.

James 1:16-18

Make no mistake about it, God's Sabbath day, a gift to us, is a perfect gift, from the Father of lights, Who does not change, doesn't even hint at turning or changing!

The New Covenant:

For this is the

covenant that I

will make with

the house of

Israel after

those days,

saith the Lord;

I will put my

Laws into their

mind, and write

them in their

hearts:

and I will be to

them a God,

and they shall be

to me a people:

Hebrews 8:10

Are you a part of

the New Covenant?

Has God written

His laws, including

the Fourth Commandment,

in your heart? DId

He put His Sabbath

in your mind?

SABBATH THOUGHTS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21

Sabbath Resources

For the

Son of

man is

Lord

even

of the

Sabbath

day.

Matthew 12:8

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. Do you believe it? It is His own holy day, it is the Lord's day, the Seventh Day, blessed by God at the creation of the world!

And He said

unto them,

"The Sabbath

was made

for man, and

not man for

the Sabbath:

Therefore the

Son of man

is Lord also

of the Sabbath."

Mark 2:27-28

This is Jesus speaking about Himself. Do you believe Him? Did He really make His own holy day a gift for all mankind? Or do you prefer the "traditions of the elders?"