Lord of the Sabbath

It sits among the Ten Commandments. Equal to "MURDER- NOT". God works six days a week, so we are to rest one day a week by keeping it holy as a way of honoring Him. God called it the Sabbath day.

I know, this particular commandment is clear as mud.

You need a doctorate to understand what the Sabbath means to us, or not.

Actually, you need a doctorate to join in the arguments about it.

What day of the week is the Sabbath? Most Christians assume Sunday, but unless you understand ancient Greek you cannot make an argument for this apparently. Some actually use the original, Saturday.

The Jew's of Jesus day had created whole manuscripts devoted to what could be done and what could not be done on their Saturday Sabbath. Jesus verbally set these teachings on fire as trash over and over again!

So what is a believer to actually do? Perhaps wrestling with the issue is enough?

Today is Sunday. When I committed myself to making this blog consistent, I wrote a post every day, including Sunday. Then I felt guilty and did not write last Sunday. Was this false guilt? I still have no idea.

One thing has changed. The site is no longer monetized. Since I no longer can profit, does that change whether I can or cannot write a new post on Sunday? Again, I do not know.

Thank God for grace!

My deadline for the kitchen has passed, yet much is left undone. Do I work on it today, or not? For the longest time I was working on the house seven days a week. Do I need to repent? I can tell you this; working seven days a week means eight, nine, ten, etc. days in a row. Eventually our bodies start to rebel. Without some rest, personal productivity diminishes. If the goal was to get more done; chances are that working seven days will be less productive in the long term.

There seems to be no clear answer, particularly to details. There is no one to ask. Depending on who I asked, the answers would vary. None of these opinions would be substantial enough to bet upon as to rightness. Depending on who I asked, I am confident I could predict the answer. Spiritually, I need to answer this for myself.

All I know is that the issue is nagging me. Each week has a Sunday and with each passing one I wrestle with "what does God want me to do?".

My brother once told me a story of his childhood. The Jewish people in our neighborhood would ask him to come in and turn on the light switch as it got dark on a Friday. This is the official start of the Sabbath for them and simply flipping the switch was considered work. See the absurdities this stuff can bring into being?

Yet...

God did mean SOMETHING. That should not be ignored completely.

Some say that it is enough to think about Him on Sunday in a "special" way. This is mainly fulfilled by going to church. Just my opinion, but going to church was often the hardest work I would do all week. Gathering together was often a blessing. It was as if many lighted torches were united into a huge flame. But why on Sunday? I was supposed to be resting not stressed out about getting somewhere and being surrounded by people.

Church is what we are called as believers, not a building, nor an event.

As a believer I want to do the right thing. My dilemma is that both working and resting seem right.

AND...

On top of all this, what the heck is a week?

A day is a rotation of the planet, a year is once around the sun. Months are tied into moon cycles. But what the heck is a week???

Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made FOR man, not man for the Sabbath". That is the best direction I can find in my soul search. Still not sure what is right today, but I will be thinking about it.

Happy Birthday Tatiana! Bless you.

Love someone well today.

Bobby