Keeping the Sabbath Sabbath

In todays world is not the threat of war, not the race issue, not the spread of violence and crime. I believe the gravest peril to any country today is secularism!

I believe the great symptom of this is seen in the secularization of the Lord's Day. It is this symptom, perhaps more than any other, which betrays the fact that the role of religion has been steadily diminishing.

Encroachments upon the Lord's Day have been gradual, subtle and devastating. Attitudes and practices regarding the Lord's Day have changed drastically over the past half century - and the trend has been in the direction of de-emphasis, rather than emphasis - upon the Lord's Day as a day of rest and worship.

This brings us back to the fourth commandment: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." (Exodus 20:8)

Remember is the key word here the tendency has been to forget. It is then a simple matter to liberalize the spiritual meaning and purpose of this Day. Then the next step is easy to appropriate it for ourselves instead of devoting it to God.

The sabbath (Lord's Day) is a reminder of God's place of primacy in the universe, in the nations, and in our individual lives. To neglect this reminder is to forget God's centrality, and thus, by default, to shunt him off to the periphery of life.

"In the beginning God..." This simple statement refutes the atheist who says there is no God; refutes the agnostic who claims we cannot know God; refutes the polytheist, who worships many gods; refutes the pantheist who says that all nature is God; refutes the materialist who claims that matter is eternal and not created; and refutes the fatalist who teaches that there is no divine plan behind creation and history.

=============================================
Editors note

Sunday school lessons for 3 - 11 year olds
==============================================

What does creation reveal about God? His wisdom and power (Job 28:23-27), His glory (Psalm 19:1), His power and Godhead (Romans 1:18-21), His love for insignificant man (Psalm 8:3-9).

"And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done in creation. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation." (Genesis 2:1-3)

The word "sabbath" simply means "to cease." God did not "rest" because he was weary, since God does not become weary. Rather, he ceased from his creative works; the task was not finished. He had blessed the creatures and man. Now he blessed the Sabbath by setting it apart as a special day.

God commanded it for a reason because we need to spend unhurried time in worship and rest each week. A God who is concerned enough to provide a day each week for us to rest is indeed a wonderful God. To observe a regular time of rest and worship in our hurried world demonstrates the importance of God in our lives while having the extra benefit of refreshing our spirits. This is a God who leads, who gives direction to life so it will bring a blessing to us.

To remember the sabbath day and to keep it holy is to remember God as Creator and Sustainer and to acknowledge that life continues under his reign and providence.

But do we forget? Today we see the turning of the Lord's Day into a fun day, forgetting that it is the day of the Lord, a day when we are to worship him. The sabbath should be different from other days. It shouldn't be simply given over to secular sports and business and work.

We have a God who cares and shares his love and power upon those who have been called by his name.

There is reason to remember the Lord's Day. We remember a God who reigns. We remember a God who guides. And we remember a God who loves us.

Printable Sunday school material