Lord Of Your Time
How would you like to be more productive in the workplace, have a more satisfying family life and a 50% better chance that your kids will reject illicit drugs? You can, by doing what 100 million people in America do every week - attend church regularly. These are the findings of a recent survey * which shows that regular worshippers not only benefit their communities, (churches and synagogues lead the list of the top 24 organisations regarded as improving urban life) but they help themselves to a better life.
This better life includes the best stress-reducer known to humanity - taking a day off, every week, from the pressures of living and working in a fast-track society. Again, God knows what people need to function at their peak and He provided for it when He created the world.
GOD CREATED REST
What did God do at the end of six days of creation? Genesis 2:3[3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.]
God created rest! He deliberately established the seventh day for rest. The principle of working six days and resting one, is so important that He made it part of the Ten Commandments. What does He say people should do in six days of the week? What are they to do on the seventh? Exodus 20:8-10
[ 8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 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 manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.]
What blessings does God promise if you rest on the Sabbath? Isaiah :13,14[13 "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,14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken.]
Here is God's blessing for people who follow his work/rest principle. Thousands of years after He made these promises, statistics prove that the people who live by His plan reap great results!
GOD IS THE CREATOR
Why is it important to follow God's work/rest principle? Exodus 20:11[11 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.]
When you follow God's plan of work and rest, you are following His own example at creation and you are also verifying that you believe He is the creator of the world.
Who is this Creator-God? Hebrews 1:2[2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.]
Your Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ, is the Creator-God of this earth! It's because He made the world, that He cares enough to save the world.
GOD IS THE SAVIOUR
What does God call the Sabbath and why does He call it this? Exodus 31:13; [13 "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy]
Ezekiel 20:12,20[12 Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy][20 Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God."]
When you rest on the Sabbath, what is it a sign of? Hebrews 4:9,10[9There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;10for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.]
By resting on the seventh day of the week you show that you believe you cannot be saved by works but only by resting or trusting in God.
How are you saved from sin? Ephesians 2:8,9[8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faithand this not from yourselves, it is the gift of GodThe Sabbath is just one more sign God has given you to remind you that you 9not by works, so that no one can boast.cannot save yourself.]
What relationship did Jesus say He had to the Sabbath? Mark 2:28[28So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."]
Since Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and Lord of your life, He has given instructions on how to "remember His day to keep it holy."
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO ON THE SABBATH
Leviticus 23:3; [ 3 " 'There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD]
Exodus 20:8-11[ 8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 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 manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 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.]
Nehemiah 13:15-19[ 15 In those days I saw men in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. 16 Men from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. 17 I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this wicked thing you are doingdesecrating the Sabbath day? 18 Didn't your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity upon us and upon this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath." 19 When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day.]
Isaiah 58:13[ 13 "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,]
Luke 4:16; [ 16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.]
Hebrews 10:25[25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one anotherand all the more as you see the Day approaching.]
Matthew 12:11-13[11He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." 13Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.]
Ellen white said:
"The Sabbath is not intended to be a period of useless activity. The law forbids secular labour on the rest day of the Lord; the toil that gains a livelihood must cease: no labour for worldly pleasure or profit is lawful upon that day; but as God ceased His labour of creating, and rested upon the Sabbath and blessed it, so man is to leave the occupations of his daily life, and devote these sacred hours to healthful rest, to worship, and to holy deeds."
When does the Sabbath begin and end? Leviticus 23:32, last part;[32 It is a sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath."]
Mark 1:32[ 32That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed.]
The seventh-day Sabbath begins at sundown, Friday and ends at sundown, Saturday. This is God's way of measuring days. Notice Genesis 1:5,8,13,19,23,31[5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morningthe first day/8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morningthe second day./13 And there was evening, and there was morningthe third day./19 And there was evening, and there was morningthe fourth day./23 And there was evening, and there was morningthe fifth day./31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morningthe sixth day.]
In order for the Sabbath to be a time devoted completely to communion with your Lord, the Bible teaches that all secular work and plans be laid aside. To be sure you'll be ready for your weekly appointment with Him, God suggests a preparation day for the Sabbath. Which day is this? Exodus 16:23-30[23 He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.' " 24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any." 27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29 Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out." 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.]
Mark 15:42[ 42It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached,]
Throughout history, God's people have kept the Sabbath as a sign of His creating and saving power. Did Jesus keep the Sabbath? Luke 4:16[ 16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.]
Did the disciples keep it? Luke 23:54-56[54It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. 55The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.]
Did Paul keep it? Acts 17:2[2As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,]
You will keep it, too, if you've asked Jesus, who is Lord of the Sabbath, to be Lord of your life.
Even in the New Earth, you will remember His day. What will you do? Isaiah 66:22,23[ 22 "As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me," declares the LORD, "so will your name and descendants endure.23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me," says the LORD.]
From the creation of the world to the re-creation of the New World, the Sabbath is in effect as a reminder of three things:
Your body, mind and emotions need regular rest.
Your Lord is the Creator and you express your belief in Him as the Creator by resting on His designated day.
Your Lord is the Saviour from sin. You can't "work" your way to heaven. You must "rest" in Him to save you. So you rest on His Sabbath as an expression of your belief in Him as your Saviour.
I have a few questions(forgive me for whatever ignorance I may display
):
