As my Grandpa would always say: "oncers become nonecers". He was talking about people that go to church only once on Sunday eventually drop to none.
I have noticed the same thing with the day of rest on Sunday, eventually mowing the yard is ok, then all work is ok, as long as it isn't at your normal job. Then, it's only this one time at my normal job, but it is really needed. Then the most famous is from Pastors and many Christians. "I am resting in the Lord every day".
In no way am I judging. But think about this: If you are praying to God for rest, you are so worn out and tired, but you don't obey this law???? His answer to you is in obeying this command.....It's for you and your blessing. YHWH heavenly Dad gains nothing from your obedience.
I was working 10-14 hour days 6 days a week renovating a cottage. God was definitely a partner in it, very noticable in every aspect of this job that he was part of it. I would get so tired at the end of the day that my brain couldn't read a tape measure, so then I would clean, then I couldn't move my muscles, so then I would drive to get more supplies. Then go to sleep. Every day for 6 days then I would go home and rest on Sunday. One Sunday, I was scrolling through Amazon looking and ordering supplies and planning my week. My wife said "Are you working", I said "No, just ordering stuff and planning, not a big deal". I went back to work Monday, by Wednesday, I called my Dad to ask a simple question and just broke down and started crying, same thing happened when I called my wife. Her response: "I told you not to work on Sunday". I knew when I broke, physically, mentally, and now I new what emotional break down looked like. My work was not blessed that week.
God will bless our work and we can accomplish huge miracles in our work, when we do it his way.
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11 | NIV
I have said since a teenager. "I could become an Atheist, renounce religions and I would still keep a sabbath rest" It's my day, Don't bother me!!
If you don't see the advantages and joy in this, then you are missing out.
If you don't think you can because you have too much work....You are just wrong and you are not relying on God to bless your work, or it's work you shouldn't be doing any way.
Now that we understand the purpose, you can understand the difference in making decisions. For me, helping a stranded family on the highway change a tire on my Sabbath is a no-brainer, I help. However, a neighbor that has 2 spare cars and is trying to change a tire that has been flat for 2 weeks, Um NO! I'm busy resting!
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Mark 2:23-28 | NIV
All well and good, but should it be Sunday? Saturday? Monday because I work weekends? Every other Tuesday because I work 10 days on and 4 days off?
“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
then you will find your joy in the Lord, Isaiah 58:13-14
That's what you need the Holy Spirit for. Have that discussion with your family and Holy Spirit. If we aren't fully baptized in the Holy Spirit, then I have learned to enjoy following his teachings and commands until I understand them fully, then when filled with Holy Spirit baptism then I can listen and discern my decisions about the Sabbath.
Am I looking for excuses or ways around this teaching? Or are am I looking for positive solutions to give me rest?
My teenage boys love their naps and resting and they make their own decisions whether it is Saturday or Sunday based on their sports games or practices or camps. I just love seeing that they understand the benefit and don't miss a rest.
I personally have switched to 7th day Saturday Sabbath simply because every verse in the Bible refers to 7th day Sabbath rest. If you look at the Calendar, Saturday is still the 7th day. Many verses in the Bible refer to the 7th day as the "Blessed day" Why not rest on the "Blessed day"
Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Genesis 2:3 | NIV
Dates are very important! Study "Jewish Feasts" We then realize YHWH's precise timing with these dates and times, it's how we recognize prophecies and events.
On almost every verse about 7th day rest / Sabbath, it includes a "gathering" or a "sacred assembly". Don't forget to meet with those weekly that you can teach and learn from.
If we are to strip out all the tradition and only Do what the Lord commands, it is simply "Don't work from Friday sunset until Saturday sunset and share a meal with other Bible believing saints" That's it, sounds like my kind of day!
Mark 7:6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’[b]
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
Observing the Sabbath is to give us freedom!!
The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her? Luke 13:10-17
Saturday Sabbath is used as a sign between YHWH God and his people. Almost every other religion in the world observes Sunday (sun worship religions) or No day of rest at all.
I am the Lord your God; follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.
Ezekiel 20:19-20
MISINTERPRITATIONS:
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
Almost all of Psalms is a love letter about the law, You only need to start at the 1st 3 verses. Very important to notice the order.
1. Love his laws and teachings
2. Your obedience and actions in the law yield fruit in its season. (days, seasons and timing is important)
3. It prospers us, the Lord doesn't benefit, it is for us!!
Link to Legalism, Laws, teachings, obeying 613 Jewish laws???
If Sabbath is important, is the Sabbatical year? Year of Jubilee?