Today is the Sabbath - what does that mean?

Saturday, 18 June 2016 - about 10:15am my time

It is another day of "rest" and I still don't know how to define that in my life.  I believe the Sabbath is a commandment so it isn't just an "if I want to" activity.  The Ten Commandments didn't go away when Christ died and salvation through Him started.

Here is the part about the Sabbath from the link above ::

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 male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.   

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.

The great controversy between Saturday and Sunday is solved in my mind by the fact that we are adopted into the Jewish family when we become saved and cease to be Gentiles.  There are only two people groups in GOD's eyes, I believe.... the Jews and everyone else, called the Gentiles.  The biblical Sabbath is evening and morning according to Creation... so for the Jews it is Friday evening at sundown through sundown on Saturday.

I find this change of "days" to be a pain in the bottom, but that is how GOD decreed it.  I once had the thought that we get to rest at the first part of the "day" (sleep at night and get refreshed), then we have all day to do real Sabbath things (whatever they may be).

As I got into the Sabbath challenge I could understand why there were so many problems surrounding it... and still are.  I finally got to the question, "How does GOD rest?" and am still there.  I also realized that babies needed to be cared for, old people needed to be cared for, some things had to be done to eat (just not making a fire, which was a LOT of work).  Servants were resting, too.  That means everyone had to do things differently... feed themselves, and things like that.  :-)

I haven't decided about the animal questions...  they could "save" animals in distress, so I call that the "emergency clause" -- we can do emergency activities... but how to separate them from regular work activities, I'm not sure.  Shelters, hospitals, police, military... these things don't go away because it is the Sabbath... how do we deal with the needs of that one day a week ??   I'm not sure. 

The whole idea of the Sabbath rest is that GOD is able to deal with those details when we honor Him with our commitment not to do "work" on that day.  That includes earning the income from our regular labor, which we rely on for our survival.  For the farmer that is the crops in the fields.  For the rancher, it is the animals that create their income.  For those in urban areas, where there is a lot of crime, that includes the safety of our lives.  All of these details are the kinds of things that make the Sabbath an act of faith, like tithing.

It isn't an easy question to answer.  GOD is involved in all the parts of our lives.  The Bible tells us that GOD is able to make one field prosper and another to whither.  It tells us that GOD controls the womb.  We discover that GOD protects those who rely on Him, and uses the evil to bring judgment on those who go against the things He has decreed, including the wayward Jew.

Christians seem to have a Sabbath of going to church and eating out afterwards.  I don't know what else happens in other people's houses, but I'm not sure rest is the theme of the day.  If our servants are also to rest, does that mean we really shouldn't go out to eat?  Is gardening work, or is it a recreational part of our lives, something we do to relax, a hobby, not really a job to us?  That question came up in my mind.  What can we do on the Sabbath that isn't considered work?  Did potlucks start as the Sabbath rest meal?  :-)

I remember a news story about orthodox Jews trying to claim that pushing the elevator button was work and they couldn't do that on the Sabbath.  It must have been on Facebook (FB) because I remember commenting that if you can't push the elevator button, you also can't open a door, the frig, the microwave, the toilet, or anything we use in day-to-day life.  I don't remember exactly what I wrote for examples, but you get the idea by the ones I shared here.  I don't think pushing an elevator button is what GOD was concerned about.

I continue to search for my own answers to my Sabbath rest.  I decided it had to be between GOD and me because that is how we are finally judged.  Everyone else won't be with me when I reach the Great White Throne Judgment... I need to find my own answers.  I think GOD understands the process and will help me find His Truth about the matter.

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please use the comments section to share them.  We all have different lives and when we share some of the better details about them, others are helped.  We can search for the answers together.  Thanks.