How do we keep the Sabbath holy?

[blessed_]

The Bible says we should rest on the seventh day and not do work. Does that mean we should..not do our revision? Or my dad shouldn't mow the lawn?

[Giga Hertz]

Should pastors not preach? I always joke with my dad about that (since he's a pastor). :P

There's a difference between what the Law said about keeping the Sabbath and what Jesus did [on the Sabbath].

[Preacher of KJV]

By keeping the Sabbath holy, you don't work. Now, pastors are a different story. God has called them to do that. Did God call you to mow the lawn? I doubt it. If it involves the work, you shouldn't do it. Sunday is a day of rest, and time to worship God to your full extent.

[Damaris]

In order to properly answer your question, I think we'd need a biblical debate on the matter, because some Godly Christ-loving Bible-believing Christians are fully convinced that we are no longer required to keep the Sabbath, while other Godly Christ-loving Bible-believing Christians are convinced that we should continue to keep the Sabbath. It's a complicated topic, with some good points on either side.

If you are going to keep the Sabbath, the point of it is not what you don't do, but rather what you abstain from doing for the purpose of focusing more fully on the Lord, resting in Him and loving Him, and giving quality time to loved ones. While we should always dedicate every day wholly to the Lord, there are also a lot of practical things we have to do such as schoolwork, homework, chores, a job, etc, and those practical things can distract you from Him. The Sabbath is an opportunity to have a day where it's all about Him--chores, homework, and everything else wait until another day.

Personally, I keep the Sabbath by resting on Sunday, the Lord's day, though the Sabbath used to be on Saturday, so Seventh Day Adventists would disagree with me. I keep it for a many reasons. The "rules" I go by is basically if it's work and I don't absolutely have to do it right then and there, then I don't, and/or if I want to do something or start to do something and feel a twinge in my conscience over it, I stop and set it aside for another day. If I'm unsure, I pray about it. That's it. Jesus said that it is lawful (that means, according to the Old Testament laws) to "do good" on the Sabbath, even if it takes a little work, such as pulling a sheep out of a pit or healing a man's hand. For this reason I'm not worried, for instance, that in writing this post I am breaking the Sabbath.

The greatest impact I have noticed in my own life from doing this is a weekly check-up on any idolatry that is in my heart. Simply put: if I'm bored in Sunday, or if I find myself wanting to do anything else but rest, then my heart is more passionate about worldly things than it is about God. That's idolatry. And the most sure-fire way of spotting it is to take it away, and then see if my heart grasps the opportunity to grow closer to the Lord, or if it merely pines after its idol. Or, if I feel like I have "nothing to do" on Sunday, then it means I was finding satisfaction and fulfillment in work instead of in Christ. Having a mandatory weekly check-up in idolatry has enabled me to catch sins of my heart before they can grow any further and repent of them.

As for pastors, Jesus pointed out that in the Old Testament that the priests working in the temple on the Sabbath desecrated the day, and yet, they are innocent. To "desecrate" something means to profane it, to rob it of its holiness, to commit sacrilege. And yet, Jesus said, even though they desecrated the day, they are innocent. So I don't believe the reason it's "okay" for pastors to preach on Sunday is because of being set free from following the Sabbath; rather, I believe that just like the priests of the Old Testament did their regular work on the Sabbath and so profaned it, yet were innocent, so preachers can do their regular work on the Sabbath and profane it, without being in sin.

I have heard from several people that they'd like to keep the Sabbath, but they have so much homework to do that if they refrained from doing it for a whole day their grades would drop and it would be a disaster. To that, I share the story I heard from a pastor about a group of college students with a full load of credits who decided to try it, even though they had been relying on both days of the weekend to "catch up". They all expected their grades to drop, but since they were doing it together, they didn't feel quite so bad about it. Long story short, instead of dropping, every single one of their grades actually improved!

But like I said, a proper discussion of this topic should be made in the biblical debates section to fully benefit from sharpening one another in this matter as iron sharpens iron.

[AliveInHim]

Originally Posted by blessed_

The Bible says we should rest on the seventh day and not do work. Does that mean we should..not do our revision? Or my dad shouldn't mow the lawn?

Exodus 20:8, "Remember the sabbath day, and 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; you shall no do any work--you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it."

For the Jews, the Sabbath is very serious. There are tons of laws about how much work you are able to do on the Sabbath and what you cannot do on the Sabbath. Even today, there is a small division between the Jews because some believe you cannot even use electricity or cars on the Sabbath. For the Jews, the Sabbath is from sundown on Friday night to sundown on Saturday night. We must, as Christians, understand the significance of the Sabbath and the history of the Sabbath before going anywhere with this.

The Sabbath is symbolic of the day God rested after creation (seen in Genesis 1). It was also one of the 3 defining marks of the Jews (along with circumcision and dietary laws). No one else had these things. It was directly related to what defined them as Jews -- as God's chosen people. This was a Sabbath in which God invited people to enter into this rest one day a week as a witness to the surrounding world. Just as he did on the last day of creation.

We are born out of the Jewish faith. We cannot, and should not, deny this fact. For a while, we were not Christians. We were known as the "Jesus Movement of the Jewish Faith."

Mark 2:23-28, "One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, 'Look, why are they doing what is no lawful on the sabbath?' And he said to them, 'Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his compainions.' Then he said to them, 'The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath." (NRSV)

These passage is powerful and gives insight to a new way of looking at the sabbath as a whole, rather than as a law. We weren't made for the sabbath. The sabbath was made for us as a gift. It is our chance to rest. However, Jesus places greater emphasis on human NEED than on strict sabbath observance. John Wesley put it by saying that the sabbath law "must give awy to man's necessity". It was made for us in the first place. In other words, do we stop fixing food on the sabbath because it is work and risk starving? No, we don't.

For Christ, even the sabbath's importance is subordiante to the needs of people because it was created for our BENEFIT in the first place. It isn't supposed to hinder us in any way.

We must also understand the definition of holy. Holy does NOT mean perfect. It means "set aside" or "set apart". We should have a day in the week "set aside" from the work we normally do - or at much as POSSIBLE that we CAN set aside for another day. But, we shouldn't do something in order to "keep the Sabbath" that would hurt us -- not fixing food, not doing work that would put us too far behind the next day, and so on. I am a college studnet. If I have a final exam on Monday for which I have been studying for days in order to prepare, can I miss one day of studying on Sunday? Does God WANT me to put my grade in jeopardy? I don't think so. God doesn't want us to hurt or hinder or own growth in any way.

Another part of this is the day in which the sabbath occurs. For the Jews, this was STRICTLY sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Things are different, now, however.

Luke 23:56-24:2, "Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment. But on the FIRST day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb."

Christ rose on Sunday. The Sabbath (as it says here) was the day they rested. The next day is Sunday -- the first day of the week. Our Sunday is directly related to the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ. After all, the whole reason behind our existence is the Resurrection. Without this, Christianity would cease to exist. It is the CRUX of our faith.

Throughout Acts and in the Corinthians letters, there are other references to having "church" on the first day of the week and even on other days of the week.

Romans 14:5-6, "Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord." (NRSV)

Paul leaves the "day" ambiguous on purpose. The point is that on matters that aren't essential for salvation (such as what day is the Sabbath on), faith allows believers to act on reason and conscience.

To keep the Sabbath holy, we have a day (follow God's calling upon the day that is yours) and set THAT day aside from the others. Use it for extra study in the word, use it for extra prayer, use it for church if you attend one, and so on. Set ONE day aside. That is how we keep it holy.

Originally Posted by Preacher of KJV

By keeping the Sabbath holy, you don't work. Now, pastors are a different story. God has called them to do that. Did God call you to mow the lawn? I doubt it. If it involves the work, you shouldn't do it. Sunday is a day of rest, and time to worship God to your full extent.

Don't you think there may be others that are "a different story". There are many people that have no choice in their work schedules. They work to put food on the table. They don't get to pick to be off on Sunday every single week. Maybe it is once or twice a month, but it isn't often. Again, the sabbath was given to US.

In Christ's Arms,

Amanda

[Ranger Kat]

I do chores or homework on the Sabbath, but I'll usually try to spend more time in prayer or reading the Bible. I like to have some sort of distinction between the day-to-day religious activities I do and the Holy Sabbath day.

[dreamergirl818]

In my house we have always had this policy:
no paid work on Sunday, no school work, no shopping (since in shopping youar e contributing to others having to work), and no other around the house chores that could be done another day (cleaning, mowing the lawn, and such). I think it would be better to be more conservative in this case than to be more liberal. Better to be right than wrong. In refusing to take a job that will require you to work at any time on Sundays, you will not onle show to those around you that you are firm in your beliefs, but you will also be following what God has commanded in His Word.

[Damaris]

Originally Posted by dreamergirl818

In my house we have always had this policy:

Originally Posted by dreamergirl818

no paid work on Sunday, no school work, no shopping (since in shopping youar e contributing to others having to work), and no other around the house chores that could be done another day (cleaning, mowing the lawn, and such). I think it would be better to be more conservative in this case than to be more liberal. Better to be right than wrong. In refusing to take a job that will require you to work at any time on Sundays, you will not onle show to those around you that you are firm in your beliefs, but you will also be following what God has commanded in His Word.

Sounds like a good policy.

Just to clarify what you're saying, by "better to be right than wrong" I think you mean, "better to err on the side of being too cautious than on the side of committing sin." Just trying to help keep things clear...since I think everyone would agree that it's better to be right than wrong!

About refusing to take a job that would require you to work on Sundays, how do you reconcile your firm stance against it with 1 Timothy 5:8? Paul makes it clear that if someone does not provide for his immediate family, he has "denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever". It sounds like if the job is the only one available and it is the only way to provide for the family, biblically, that job should be taken.

For a time, my family had to live with that exact situation after my dad had been out of work for some time. It was not ideal, but after much prayer my parents came to the conclusion that God is more honored by my dad providing for his family than He was dishonored by my dad working on Sunday. Now, if it was just a job to support an expensive lifestyle, or extraneous funds for some other project, that would have been another story. As it was, I believe God was pleased with my parent's decision, and the matter was resolved within a few months.

[Preacher of KJV]

Those words were to Timothy, not us. You have to rightly divide the word of truth in order to apply it correctly. A while back we had a thread talking about losing your salvation with a verse from Hebrews, but it wasn't talking to us.

Hebrews 10:25
Acts 2:42
1 Cor 12:14-27

[Queen Esther]

Those words were to Timothy, not us. You have to rightly divide the word of truth in order to apply it correctly.

I thought that II Timothy 3:16 that ALL scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable...not only parts...many things are written to other people but we can still apply them to our own lives. If you take that stance then the 10 commandments are only for the Israelite s and other things...even the Sabbath since the Sabbath was created for the Children of Israel...so your own argument is illegitimate i you believe what you just said. ALso if someone disagrees with you you cannot imply that they've not applied it correctly...unless their stance is unBiblical.