God’s people have just returned from keeping God’s great Fall Feast. We immediately are confronted with a contrary world; contrary to everything we believe. We have no choice, this is the only physical world that exists.
The thought of facing the year ahead is discouraging. But God has given us tools to combat our discouragement and the contrariness of this world. We should not discount the power of these weapons. If we asked what has God given us to battle the world, we could come up with a number of answers, such as faith, prayer, study, fasting, among others. They would all be correct. However, there is one that is available on such a regular and continuous basis that we can become so familiar with it that we can dilute its effectiveness in our lives. This weapon is one of the first perfect truths given to us by God when he called us. And, it is a blessing and a strength that is designed to preserve us every week of the year.
It is of course, the Feast of the weekly Sabbath. Consider the following:
Leviticus 23:3: Six days shall work be done, but the Sabbath day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
The Sabbath is a day of physical and spiritual rest. The fact that is holy means it is not to be violated. It is the Sabbath of the Lord created for us (Mark 2:27). It is created for us to combat the world in which we will live out our lives this year until we are once again are able to assemble for God’s Holy Days and Feasts. The value and blessing of the weekly Sabbath, which is meant to strengthen us, cannot be overstated. Therefore upon the return from the Fall Feasts, it is worthwhile to take time to slow down and solidly re-establish the godly pattern of our lives, which is regulated by the Sabbath.
To do this it is worthwhile to consider some of the basic principles that are established by the Sabbath. This Minister’s Comments will only bring to mind one of the most basic reasons for the Sabbath, and that is the Commandment to rest.
Isn’t it interesting that the first directive considering the Sabbath in Leviticus 23 is that mankind is ordered to rest. When an animal has worked hard over a period of time, it doesn’t have to be told to rest. But mankind, with all its intellect and reasoning, has to be ordered by its creator to rest. One reason it is necessary that resting is a command is that every human sees their work as being of great importance. Whether it is gathering wood for the fire on the Sabbath or serving like Martha while Jesus preaches, we all have a difficult time seeing how unimportant our daily work is. We have a difficult time raising our sight to the true horizon to see who we truly are and why we were created.
Therefore, God has commanded us to observe the most basic law of the Sabbath — to stop pursuing our own goals and seek spiritual and physical rest on the Sabbath day. Which brings up another aspect of the Sabbath rest. The Sabbath pictures what we just finished celebrating — the one thousand year reign of Jesus Christ — during that time mankind will have rest from Satan and all the false ways he has imbedded in our society (Hebrews 4:1-9).
Which brings us back to where this comment started. We have just finished celebrating the Kingdom of God. The weekly Sabbath, if used as God intends, will help us remain in the faith and will aid us in attending the Feast next year.
Have a physically and spiritually restful Sabbath.