Lord's Day 27

Believe it or not, the fourth commandment is the one which most people struggle to keep. Everyone does their best to keep the other commandments (no other gods, don’t murder, don’t lie, etc…). However, when it comes to keeping the Sabbath, most Christians see this as an optional suggestion rather than a command of God. 

As a pastor I hear more excuses as to why this commandment should not be kept; “The crop won’t wait ‘til Monday,” “I work all week and this is my only day to sleep in,” or my favorite, “I can worship God and keep the Sabbath just fine on my fishing boat.” If we were to treat the rest of the commandments so flippantly, could we really be called the people of God? 

It is for good reason that God commands us to keep the Sabbath. First, God wants us to enjoy life, to find great pleasure in Him and in His creation, and we can’t do this if we are constantly occupied by our occupation. We are not strong enough to go without rest, it’s not how we were made; even God saw fit to rest after six days of creation. If we neglect our Sabbath day of rest and recreation, we are saying that we are stronger than God, and we miss the blessings God has given us. Instead, we become consumed by our work, and our earnings, our shelter, our work, become our god. Sabbath taking is a correction from the frantic workaholic tendencies we develop while trying to build our security somewhere outside of God. 

This commandment also requires that we keep the Sabbath day holy, that is, set apart for God. It is a day when we are to corporately and individually, to pray for one another, and to serve one another. It is the Lord’s day, we are to live it for God.