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The Importance of the Sabbath
“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” Gen 2:2
After six days of work creating all of heaven and earth, God finished his work and rested on the seventh day. Taking one day each week to finish our work and rest from our labor is the very definition of “Sabbath.”
The idea of routinely taking time to rest and reflect on God is so important that it is actually the fourth of the Ten Commandments.
“...but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work…” Exodus 20:10 AMP.
Routine rest is so important that it was honored and practiced before it was given as one of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. Four chapters prior, we have the Bible’s first explicit mention of the Sabbath as God describes the manna from heaven that will rain down to provide for the Israelites.
Each day, the children of Israel were to gather a certain amount of manna per person to be consumed that same day. They were not to keep any leftovers from one day to the next. God says, “in this way I will test them and see whether they follow my instructions.” (Ex 16:4).
But, on the sixth day, God promised a miracle of provision in that the people were to gather manna, bring it home, then prepare it for two days - for the sixth day and the Sabbath day. With manna, God gave limits on how much could be collected daily including one day, the Sabbath, when none was to be gathered.
The children of Israel never lacked, even though one day each week they could not provide for themselves. Isn’t this like our God? The Israelites never lacked because He provided beyond their limits, beyond their ability, and beyond the boundaries of their effort. They rested while He worked.
Our bodies were not created for 24/7/365 work. We were created with a hardwired need for rest. That rest is so important that God modeled it for us in Creation, outlined the principle of it with the Israelites and manna, then codified it in the Ten Commandments.
About this Plan
We live in a fast-paced world that tempts us to never stop. There is always more to do and more to hustle. Yet since Creation, God has instituted a regular day of rest called the Sabbath. To answer whether Christians should honor the Sabbath in our modern lives, let’s look at the importance of it, God’s intent with it, and how it can be applied to our modern lives.
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