Honor the SabbathKeeping the Sabbath is not an ancient, stupid idea meant to burden people; it is a huge blessing especially needed by today's modern person. I know how challenging it can be to be alive in today's world....Between work (and how many of us have "just one job?"), errands, family life, and recreation, it is all we can do just to get by. And I know many people (being a computer programmer by day) who simply do not take time off...They work 60+ hour weeks, do the "soccer-mom" thing, take care of the house and errands on the weekends, and are constantly busy and working. Oh, yes, we take the obligatory 2-week family vacation once a year, but that (more often than not) leaves us exhausted and broke, having spent the year's savings driving 4,400 miles in 10 days while the screaming children in the back of the SUV are mysteriously-less-than-appreciative-about-all-we-are-doing-for-them..... Dearest friends, I am convinced, and know for a fact, that YHWH wants a better life for us. And the pathway to that life does not start in 5 or 45 years when we "retire".....No, that better life starts now! And the key to it all, I have observed and lived for years, is honoring the Sabbath, and keeping it holy. Now I know how backward that sounds to the modern mind. "Look, silly, what I need is a way to interface my DSL with the satellite dish; that will make me free and give me more time." Yeah, right. You only need look at the inventions that have come to us over the last 20 years to realize that chasing the "Technological Solution" will drive you crazy. And I further realize that suggesting any type of "religious" approach to life's challenges chaffs the modern mind. Religion is something we are supposed to do in our deepest hearts; we draw the line when it in any way affects our life or actions. And even for the Western Religious Person (and I am speaking primarily of Christians and Jews here), the majority find language about "Honoring the Sabbath" to be ancient and out of touch with today's needs. (As an aside, one of the great challenges facing the thoughtful religious person is determining what in the Scriptures (whatever Scripture you may value) is temporally connected to the culture of the time, and what is eternally true. Believe it or not, every religious war has been fought over this one and only one issue.) Nevertheless, keeping the Sabbath is one of the single most powerful, wonderful things you can do for your life! The Commandments are looked on today as chains and locks meant to keep us from having any fun. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In short, the Commandments are the owner's manual for your life. Look, when the car manufacturer tells you in the operator's manual that you need to get the oil changed regularly, they are not saying that because they hate you and want to keep you repressed; they are saying it because that is just the way things are! Failure to abide by this warning / advice / commandment ("Thou shalt change the oil in Thy car!") will hurt you!!! In exactly the same way, YHWH knows that life is hard.....Personally, I have 5 jobs...I commute 30 or 85 miles each way...I have a family...I understand, please believe me, and so does YHWH. But not following the admonition / commandment to Honor the Sabbath will hurt you!! And, indeed, it does hurt people. Today's workaholic, failing to keep normal requirements for rest, gets sick constantly. I know people who literally are sick once or twice a month. Frankly, I see this as nature's form of "enforced rest requirements." If you will not honor rest, it will be honored for you. Just like the car.....If you will not get the oil changed on your schedule, the engine will freeze and you will get it fixed on its schedule. 7 days a week....168 hours a week. And folks, yes, you need to be working 6 of those days. Between the job and house and errands, yes, 6 days is challenging enough to accomplish it all. But the 7th day is a gift! That day is yours!! It is the reward for the last 6 days of challenging labor, and preparation for the next. This is not something that God wants to beat you over the head with....He LOVES YOU! Look at traditional Jewish homes....Yes, they are working 6 hard days a week, and have been doing so for thousands of years. Trust me, life in Palestine circa 1,000 BCE was not exactly a happy place. And yet, on the Sabbath, what do we do? Light a candle....Open a bottle of wine...Say a prayer for having made it through another week...Get together with some friends...Sing some songs...Kiss our children....Love our spouses..... That, friends, is not the mark of someone who is constantly getting beat on by their tyrannical god...That is the sign of a blessed, refreshed people! And note, most importantly, that the Sabbath is NOT the day you get caught-up on all your other chores you didn't have time to get to during the week. No, no, NO! It is a time to rest....have fun....Come on, don't fight traffic for 2 hours trying to get somewhere so then you can have "fun"....stay local...DE-STRESS. Take-up a hobby. It is OK.... I have been doing this for years. Since I play the organ and piano at a local congregation (I told you I have 5 jobs(!)), Sundays are not a day of rest. I work. But Saturday for me is, and has been for years, a day to do "as close to nothing as is humanly possible" (one of my favorite phrases!) And, the simple facts are, that I have had only one "cold" in 3 years, and whenever I do not keep the Sabbath I directly, tangibly feel it for the entire week. And please, do not get hung-up on the silly debates about what-day-of-the-week-the-Sabbath-really-is...What really matters is not which day you honor it, but that you honor it! Try it....It is a commandment meant to help you stay healthy and energized for the challenges of your life. The Sabbath is YHWH's weekly love-letter to you. Read it. |
|
[Home] [Colorful Introduction] [God's Name] [The Revealing Science of God] [Jesus Died for You] [Contact] [Support]
(c) 1996-2008 The Church of Yahweh. All rights reserved. May be freely
distributed, but never sold. |
