Serious About the Sabbath

God is serious about all of us taking a day each week to rest and focus on worshiping Him. He stopped after creating the universe and rested on the seventh day, and He does not ever need to rest. He did it just to show us the importance of this weekly practice. However, most people these days do not take the Sabbath day seriously, at all. We should be glad that God doesn't do what He did in Moses' time. (Numbers 15:32,35)  When the Israelites found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day, Moses went to the Lord and asked Him what to do. The Lord said that all of the people were to take him outside of the camp and stone him to death. I would say that is making sure they all took the Sabbath day very seriously, wouldn't you?

Why would God make such a command as we find in the 10 Commandments, "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy?"(Exodus 20:8) I believe there were at least two reasons. The main benefit to us is that we need to make sure we stay focused on God, or we will drift away from Him. When we have one day each week that we set aside for worship, it stops the drift. Also, we are commanded to worship the Lord many times in the Bible, and the Sabbath day is when we come together with other believers to honor the Lord with our praises and to be exhorted from His Word. This helps us stay on track spiritually. However, it is also needed for our physical health. We do not need to work too little or too much. God is clear. We are to work 6 days and rest 1 day. That is the right balance for how He made us. If we fail to take this rest, it harms our bodies, too. Therefore, I pray we will all take the Sabbath Day as seriously as God does, because if we don't, it still has serous consequences for our lives.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Numbers 16-18.