Call the Sabbath a Delight
Albert G. Edwards III
In the fourth commandment, God calls us to keep the Sabbath day holy (Ex. 20:8–11; Deut. 5:12–15). That word sabbath means "rest." In old covenant times, the seventh day was the day of rest. In new covenant times, the apostles and the Christian church observed the first day of the week as the day when they would come together to hear God’s Word and to break bread, that is, observe the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7; cf. 2:42). They even called it "the Lord’s Day" (Rev. 1:10). It was the day on which our Lord Jesus arose from death.
Why Should You Keep the Lord’s Day Special to God?
God calls you to keep his day of rest holy. He wants you to treat it as a day special to him, because he says it is special to him. Anything God sets apart for his special purposes is holy. He wants you to treat the whole Sabbath day—all day—as a special day, important to the Lord, and for that reason important to you.
Just as in old covenant times God called the day the "Sabbath to the Lord your God" (Ex. 20:10), so Jesus, in this new covenant age, says that as Son of Man he is (not was) the "Lord even of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:28). The Sabbath or rest day is not yours to use as you please, any more than the time an employee gives his employer at work is his own to use as he pleases. The Sabbath is the Lord’s day. Because this is so easy to forget, God commands you to remember to keep and use the day as his day, not yours.
Why should you treat the Sabbath day as a special day for God? Certainly, the basic reason is that God wants you to. He has good cause for wanting you to. By giving you a weekly rest day, he gives you the opportunity to rest from the regular work that is proper to do on the remaining six days.
The big reason, however, is that God wants to remind you that your time, your life, and even your enjoyment in life, come from him. If it were not for his mercy, we would be in an awful mess (Deut. 5:15). How easy it is to forget these things! To keep us from taking the privilege of life—with all its blessings—for granted, God calls us to use the day he has appointed to be a day of rest as a weekly reminder that all our times are in his hands (Ps. 31:15).
How Should You Keep the Lord’s Day Special to God?
In Exodus 20:11, God gives a useful principle to help us understand what he wants us to do on his day: Imitate God. You were created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26–27). And in Christ you are being re-created in the image of God (Eph. 4:20–24; Col. 2:9–10; Rom. 8:29; cf. Heb. 1:3). Therefore, what God did on his six great days of creative work is right for you to do on the six days of your week that he has set aside for your creative work. What God does on his great rest day is right for you to do on the day of the week that he has set aside for your Sabbath, your rest day.
How does this principle give needed guidance? To be guided by this principle, find out from the Bible the kinds of things that God does during his great Sabbath, the rest that began at the end of creation and which, according to Hebrews 4:1–11, is still in progress. You can imitate God, knowing that what God does during his great rest is what you should do, too. His activity is our standard and example.
There are at least six major kinds of activity that God does or calls for during his great, eternal rest. These should be our guidelines.
Piety
The first activity that God calls for and approves of on the day of rest is worship. God calls for and is worshiped during his great sabbath rest. It is right, then, for us to worship him during our weekly rest day. It is "a Sabbath to the Lord your God" (Ex. 20:10), "a holy convocation" (Lev. 23:3).
Second, we read in 1 John 1:3 that God has fellowship with us during his great day of rest. Therefore, he wants us to have fellowship with him and with one another. Make it a special point to seek your fellowship on the Sabbath with others who trust him, too.
Mercy
Third, God shows mercy during his great rest day. It was after God had entered his rest that Adam and Eve sinned. He nevertheless put into action his whole plan of salvation, and graciously showed them mercy. He continues to do so to us during this great age of his rest. It is therefore necessary that we also show mercy. When Jesus healed a person on the Sabbath, it caused a controversy. "And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working’ " (John 5:16–17). In other words, he pointed out that he was following this principle of doing on the weekly Sabbath what his Father was doing on his great Sabbath.
Rest
A fourth type of activity—if we may call it that—that God does during his great Sabbath is rest (Gen. 2:1). God also wants you to be rested and refreshed from your labors.
A fifth activity that God engages in, and one therefore that we should engage in, is enjoying his creation (Gen. 1:31). However, be careful to use your enjoyment to help you remember God, not to forget him.
Necessity
A sixth activity that God does during his great rest period needs a little more discussion. Hebrews 1:3 says that during this present age of God’s rest, Jesus upholds all things by the word of his power. That is, he does whatever is necessary to keep his creation from falling into chaos. In like manner, then, it is appropriate for us, during our weekly rest day, to do whatever is necessary to keep life from falling into chaos. Again, keep asking yourself the question, Is what I want to do really necessary? Avoid the temptation to see what you can get away with, while neglecting to pursue God.
What about You?
Ungodliness displays itself today in stores being open on the Lord’s Day, in businesses insisting that people work on the Sabbath, in recreation and entertainment facilities enticing people to devote only an hour or two (instead of the whole day) to the Lord and to spend the rest of the day as if it were their own and not special to the Lord. It’s very difficult to live a godly life in such an environment. But it’s also necessary and important for those who are privileged and called to enjoy God.
Are you careless about the Lord’s Day? Do you live just as ungodly people do, patronizing stores, doing unnecessary work, forgetting God and his grace to you? If you can’t even remember to enjoy God on his special day, how difficult you make it for yourself to enjoy him the rest of the week! The sobering thought is this: If you cannot learn to enjoy God enough now to want to spend the time he gives you to do so, do you suppose you will really enjoy heaven, when all your time will be spent in the awareness of his special presence?
If you have children, a good way to help them learn about the Lord’s Day is to impress on them two basic concepts. The first is that the Lord’s Day is different from other days of the week. This can be taught by letting little children play with "Sunday toys"—not necessarily better toys, but toys they don’t get to play with on other days. Older children can be taught that homework is not to be done on the Lord’s Day, because it is a regular work activity for the rest of the week; it should be done then. Secondly, teach your children to remember why the Lord’s Day is different. Ask them on Saturday why Sunday is a different day. Teach them to answer that it is a different day because it is the Lord’s day and not their own. We are to call the Sabbath a delight because we are to call the Lord a delight.
When you are tempted to surrender to the pressure of a world that has little use for God, ask yourself who really is your Savior and Lord. Ask yourself what you most value and whom you will serve. Observing the Sabbath as a day devoted not to yourself but to the Lord will actually help you to remember. Seek first to please God, no matter what the cost. Remember, you can never give the Lord more than he will give you (1 Cor. 15:58).
How gracious God is to give a day for rest! It shows his great concern that we may enjoy life even in a world that is under his curse because of our sin (Gen. 3:17–19). Consider also how concerned he is that we have time to enjoy him here! In the Lord’s Day, God gives us a sign of hope, a foretaste of heaven! Delight yourself in the Lord and call the Sabbath a delight!
The author is a retired OP minister. He quotes the ESV. Reprinted from New Horizons, March 2003.