Exodus 20:8-11

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Exodus 20:8-11

The fourth commandment given by God is the only law in the 10 commandments that is not moral in principal. The idea of the Sabbath was to take one day out of a seven-day period to rest and take time to reflect on God and His goodness in providing the blessings and provisions we need for life. This had both physical and spiritual implications because we were created as physical and spiritual beings. We all need rest for our bodies and rest for our souls.

This command was to benefit man and his whole being, to liberate him to enjoy rest and delight in his God. Sadly, the Israelites treated it much differently, piling laws on top of laws to make the Sabbath more laborious than restful. Thankfully when Jesus came onto the scene, He blew up all these extra laws and said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Not only did Jesus set this law straight in His earthly ministry, He then fulfilled its requirement at the cross.

The rest that every man desires, peace between God and man, is now permanent when our faith and trust is in Jesus. Everyday our soul is now at rest in knowing we belong to God and, though the Sabbath is no longer law to the Christian, it’s always a good practice to take a day out of the week to rest our bodies and enjoy the bountiful blessings of God and the work He has done for us!

Pastor Jason Witt