Sabbath Day Thoughts

In the last month we've talked about the Sabbath during our seminary class.  The first thing I noticed was that the manna sent to the Israelites fell only on six days.  You couldn't keep the stuff overnight or it would get wormy and stink.  But, the miracle is that none fell on the seventh day so they had to collect two days worth on the sixth day.  Miraculously, it didn't go bad then.  I thought how important the Sabbath is to the Lord if even He doesn't work then. 

There was an article in the local newspaper about a minister who was holding a special worship service on the Thursday night before the deer hunt.  He was encouraging all the hunters to come and even wear their blaze orange.  He would be wearing his blaze orange stole as well.  He recognized that there would be many in the woods on that Sunday morning and by coming to worship on this night, they would get a "free pass" to not be in church on that day.  Who is he to think he can change Sabbath worship?  My class was quite entertained by the article and it gave us a lot of fodder for discussion.

A few days later we started discussing the 10 commandments.  I noticed that the fourth commandment to keep the sabbath day holy took four verses to cover.  It is so important that it needed some clear direction. 

As I've contemplated these thoughts, the Sabbath has come to mean more to me.  Am I perfect at keeping that day holy?  No.  I'm not.  But I keep on trying and working on it.  Do I wish the Packers always played on Monday night football or a Thursday?  Yes I do.  I would love to sit down and watch them play or listen on the radio.  I don't because I'm trying to be obedient.  I love God and keeping His day holy is the best way I can show Him that I love him.