July 24, 2001
When was the last time you heard someone (more than twenty) or said yourself, “I am bored”? Not many people complain that they haven’t enough to do. The pace of life accelerates at alarming rates. Why are we going so fast? Why is our day never quite long enough to check off everything on our to-do lists?
Maybe we have too many options. Our modern society offers a plethora of choices. Yesterday I stood in a copy shop amazed at the range of papers, then went to an office supply store and was further amazed at the number and types of gel pens. The proliferation does not stop at goods and services. We have more job descriptions and more activity opportunities than ever before in history.
Besides the options, human beings have a seldom-satisfied hunger for both fulfillment and significance. For some reason, the search never starts internally at an intrinsic level. Instead, the measurements for fulfilment start with externals. People do not feel important unless they achieve mightily and own twice as much.
Whatever drives us, we often crave just a little rest. We complain that we are too busy and want to slow down yet how many actually choose a slower lifestyle? We crave the weekends but in our part of the world, Saturday and Sunday are much like any other day. People work, stores are open. Some still take Sundays off and a few go to church or spend time with family, but their metronome swings just as fast. Our worship often is as filled with action as our recreation.
Occasionally, I meet people who insist on a literal, no-work Sabbath day. For them, Sunday means church, no work, no games, no play, no sports, no travel. Meals are prepared the day before and everyone has a nap in the afternoon. Most Christians may find the ‘do nothing’ part appealing but usually consider such abstinence too radical. They say it’s a throwback from a dead era. Yet many Christians I know yearn to slow down, to get off the merry-go-round at least one day a week.
We miss and long for what God calls Sabbath rest. It began “in the beginning” when God created and then rested. He was not tired but took time to stop working, look at His work and say, “It is good.” He also set a pattern for us. He said we ought to work six days and rest on seventh as He did. We may have lots of energy or really need a physical rest, but that is not all we need.
For one thing, looking back and examining our activities is also important. At first, we might avoid this backward look. We are critical of ourselves, maybe unfairly. We might not be able to pronounce ‘good’ upon our week. Nevertheless, by examining what we have done, we are better able to evaluate our life and think of ways to improve. As we do that, we more readily ask for God’s help and become more prepared to move into the next week. We also gain a certain sense of satisfaction; last week may not have gone well but at least we can label why and put some handles on it, feeling satisfied with our evaluation.
We have heard the “the unexamined life is not worth living.” The Bible agrees. God tells us that only fools hurl headlong into their plans: “It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.”
Scripture also says “there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Folly comes easy, maybe as easy as the sense that “my whole week was a waste.” Our loving God gave us a day of rest to help us change that.
Lord, You alone have insight into the future. Your wisdom sees what is wise and what is foolish. Unless we, your people, slow down and take time to examine our lives in the light of Your Word, we will waste our days. Since You promise rewards for those who commit their way and activities to You, help us to take the time to examine what we are doing. Guide us on the right track so we do more than run around it as fast as we can.
Showing posts with label Sabbath. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sabbath. Show all posts
Friday, April 6, 2018
Monday, February 26, 2018
That seventh day . . . ............. Parables 708
March 20, 2001
My grandfather said, “I’ve never harvested any crops that I planted on a Sunday.” He was not a religious man but Grandpa noticed the positive results of his commitment to take one rest day in his busy work week.
The original idea of taking one day a week as a day of rest comes from the Bible. It was called the Sabbath and was an important part of Jewish life. In the Old Testament, the people were commanded to keep holy the sevenths day of the week (holy = set aside for God) but their Sabbath activities often became ritual.
In the New Testament, the early Christians interpreted the Old Testament Sabbath as a ‘type’ or shadow of their relationship to Christ and their ‘rest’ in His finished work of salvation. They changed that special day to the first day of the week, the day that Jesus rose from the dead. Instead of ritual, it became a lively expression of corporate worship and celebration.
Today, the traditional ‘rest’ days are not what they used to be. For those doing shift work, weekend days are the same as any other days. Changed hours for businesses add to the difficulty of consistently making one day a special day.
Besides the above logistics, many people may take a day or two off work to rest; however, they often fill those days of rest with activities that are just as strenuous as work.
To add to the complication of a modern Sabbath, several traditions and beliefs stress which day it should be. Some religious groups argue the day must be Saturday; others insist that it must be Sunday.
In an effort to solve this, others feel that the day of the week is not as important as the principle behind the Sabbath: God worked six days when He formed the world and everything in it, then after declaring it “good,” He rested. (This is not to say God was tired but that He ceased from working for a day.) This principle of work and rest is included in the Ten Commandments and repeated throughout the Old Testament.
Since our calendar was not yet invented, it is folly to argue which day of the week compares exactly to that seventh day. Instead, we need to look at God’s example and activities and apply them to our Sabbath rest. God worked six days doing something significant; He created a world and established its operational principles. After He was finished, He looked at it and said it was good.
I don’t know about everyone, but for me, it is a wonderful (and rare) week when I can look back and say all that I did was significant and good, but when I can, it seems easier to take a day off and rest.
This makes me wonder if our human drive for significance gets carried away and pushes us into a sense that we must work harder and longer to accomplish something good? And from what do we get our sense of significance? Does that fit with God’s plan for our lives?
Another part of this issue is that God never stopped working after He rested. That is, He continues to be active in His world. Simply put, a rest at the end of our week of work is also prior to the beginning of another work week. The Sabbath rest is practical; we can go refreshed and rested into the next part of our work cycle. This points to the principle behind the Sabbath. While it was initiated as a day set aside for God, Jesus pointed out that “man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath was made for man.”
This time of rest is also for our good. While we can spend it in many ways, some of it should include time to reflect on the good of the past week. We can rest in the significance we have as children of God, and as we rest our bodies, we prepare for the week ahead.
Most important of all, if we include time apart from the normal distractions of life to focus our attention on the glory and grace of our God, He will renew our spirit and give us peace.
My grandfather said, “I’ve never harvested any crops that I planted on a Sunday.” He was not a religious man but Grandpa noticed the positive results of his commitment to take one rest day in his busy work week.
The original idea of taking one day a week as a day of rest comes from the Bible. It was called the Sabbath and was an important part of Jewish life. In the Old Testament, the people were commanded to keep holy the sevenths day of the week (holy = set aside for God) but their Sabbath activities often became ritual.
In the New Testament, the early Christians interpreted the Old Testament Sabbath as a ‘type’ or shadow of their relationship to Christ and their ‘rest’ in His finished work of salvation. They changed that special day to the first day of the week, the day that Jesus rose from the dead. Instead of ritual, it became a lively expression of corporate worship and celebration.
Today, the traditional ‘rest’ days are not what they used to be. For those doing shift work, weekend days are the same as any other days. Changed hours for businesses add to the difficulty of consistently making one day a special day.
Besides the above logistics, many people may take a day or two off work to rest; however, they often fill those days of rest with activities that are just as strenuous as work.
To add to the complication of a modern Sabbath, several traditions and beliefs stress which day it should be. Some religious groups argue the day must be Saturday; others insist that it must be Sunday.
In an effort to solve this, others feel that the day of the week is not as important as the principle behind the Sabbath: God worked six days when He formed the world and everything in it, then after declaring it “good,” He rested. (This is not to say God was tired but that He ceased from working for a day.) This principle of work and rest is included in the Ten Commandments and repeated throughout the Old Testament.
Since our calendar was not yet invented, it is folly to argue which day of the week compares exactly to that seventh day. Instead, we need to look at God’s example and activities and apply them to our Sabbath rest. God worked six days doing something significant; He created a world and established its operational principles. After He was finished, He looked at it and said it was good.
I don’t know about everyone, but for me, it is a wonderful (and rare) week when I can look back and say all that I did was significant and good, but when I can, it seems easier to take a day off and rest.
This makes me wonder if our human drive for significance gets carried away and pushes us into a sense that we must work harder and longer to accomplish something good? And from what do we get our sense of significance? Does that fit with God’s plan for our lives?
Another part of this issue is that God never stopped working after He rested. That is, He continues to be active in His world. Simply put, a rest at the end of our week of work is also prior to the beginning of another work week. The Sabbath rest is practical; we can go refreshed and rested into the next part of our work cycle. This points to the principle behind the Sabbath. While it was initiated as a day set aside for God, Jesus pointed out that “man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath was made for man.”
This time of rest is also for our good. While we can spend it in many ways, some of it should include time to reflect on the good of the past week. We can rest in the significance we have as children of God, and as we rest our bodies, we prepare for the week ahead.
Most important of all, if we include time apart from the normal distractions of life to focus our attention on the glory and grace of our God, He will renew our spirit and give us peace.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Sunday Shopping .............. Parables 263
April 17, 1991
A North Dakota city sends advertising flyers into southern Saskatchewan hoping to encourage Canadian shoppers. One of those flyers recently featured this catchy headline: SINNER APPROVES SUNDAY OPENING.
The lead line in the story explained: “North Dakota became the final state to repeal its Blue Laws when Gov. George Sinner signed a Sunday-opening bill Wednesday....”
I’m tempted to take potshots at terrible puns however the more important issue is what do we do with our Sundays. At the risk of stepping on some traditions, dare I suggest the word “Sunday” is not in the Bible? Instead, the word “Sabbath” is mentioned many times. It was a day of rest inaugurated by God, first for Himself and then for His people. He created on the first six days, then on the seventh He “ceased from His work and rested.”
Later, He commanded the Israelites: “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 thy God: in it you shall not do any work...”
The seventh day was special for Israel. Exodus 31:13 says, “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, my Sabbaths you shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am the LORD that makes you holy.” Verse 16 and 17 say, “The children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath... throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant... It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever...” When the nation of Israel turned away from God, they were sharply rebuked by the prophets. Nehemiah said; “... Did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? Yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath.” God took Sabbath-keeping seriously.
However, by the time Jesus came, Sabbath-keeping had become ritual and tradition, characterized by rules and bondage instead of refreshment and rest. The day became more important than the people it was intended to benefit. So Jesus helped people, even on the Sabbath, and that enraged the Jews. After He rose from the dead, the disciples began to meet on the first day of the week, worshiping together and celebrating the resurrection.
Christians don’t always agrees about Sabbath and Sunday. Some feel the Sabbath still must be kept on the seventh day. Others impose Sabbath laws on Sunday. Some see the original law as an analogy that was fulfilled in Christ. (The book of Hebrews explains how the Old Testament Sabbath illustrated a rest that comes when we cease from our own labors to earn merit before God and rest in the salvation provided by Christ. Consequently, failure to enter into that rest has far more serious results than failure to relax on Sunday.)
The Apostle Paul handled the argument this way: “One man esteems one day above another: another esteems every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Romans 14:5).
So what about Sunday shopping? Personally, I can sin on Sundays whether the stores are open or not. That isn’t the issue. Christians need to worship God together, so having one day a week to do it is practical, regardless of complex Sabbath theology.
Not only that, worship is a command. Given the fact of our sin nature, open malls, fishing holes, football games, and sunny picnic sites just might add to the temptation to disobey it. While we need to remember, regardless of the temporary “benefits” of skipping worship, we will eventually suffer from that sin (just as we will from any other sin), we also need to remember that Jesus said the Sabbath was made FOR US, not to ruin weekend plans. Liberty to rest and worship goes far beyond any so-called freedom to shop on Sundays.
A North Dakota city sends advertising flyers into southern Saskatchewan hoping to encourage Canadian shoppers. One of those flyers recently featured this catchy headline: SINNER APPROVES SUNDAY OPENING.
The lead line in the story explained: “North Dakota became the final state to repeal its Blue Laws when Gov. George Sinner signed a Sunday-opening bill Wednesday....”
I’m tempted to take potshots at terrible puns however the more important issue is what do we do with our Sundays. At the risk of stepping on some traditions, dare I suggest the word “Sunday” is not in the Bible? Instead, the word “Sabbath” is mentioned many times. It was a day of rest inaugurated by God, first for Himself and then for His people. He created on the first six days, then on the seventh He “ceased from His work and rested.”
Later, He commanded the Israelites: “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 thy God: in it you shall not do any work...”
The seventh day was special for Israel. Exodus 31:13 says, “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, my Sabbaths you shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am the LORD that makes you holy.” Verse 16 and 17 say, “The children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath... throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant... It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever...” When the nation of Israel turned away from God, they were sharply rebuked by the prophets. Nehemiah said; “... Did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? Yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath.” God took Sabbath-keeping seriously.
However, by the time Jesus came, Sabbath-keeping had become ritual and tradition, characterized by rules and bondage instead of refreshment and rest. The day became more important than the people it was intended to benefit. So Jesus helped people, even on the Sabbath, and that enraged the Jews. After He rose from the dead, the disciples began to meet on the first day of the week, worshiping together and celebrating the resurrection.
Christians don’t always agrees about Sabbath and Sunday. Some feel the Sabbath still must be kept on the seventh day. Others impose Sabbath laws on Sunday. Some see the original law as an analogy that was fulfilled in Christ. (The book of Hebrews explains how the Old Testament Sabbath illustrated a rest that comes when we cease from our own labors to earn merit before God and rest in the salvation provided by Christ. Consequently, failure to enter into that rest has far more serious results than failure to relax on Sunday.)
The Apostle Paul handled the argument this way: “One man esteems one day above another: another esteems every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Romans 14:5).
So what about Sunday shopping? Personally, I can sin on Sundays whether the stores are open or not. That isn’t the issue. Christians need to worship God together, so having one day a week to do it is practical, regardless of complex Sabbath theology.
Not only that, worship is a command. Given the fact of our sin nature, open malls, fishing holes, football games, and sunny picnic sites just might add to the temptation to disobey it. While we need to remember, regardless of the temporary “benefits” of skipping worship, we will eventually suffer from that sin (just as we will from any other sin), we also need to remember that Jesus said the Sabbath was made FOR US, not to ruin weekend plans. Liberty to rest and worship goes far beyond any so-called freedom to shop on Sundays.
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