8/13/10

The Fourth Commandment: Refreshment of God's Creation


Raymond Pert gave us this sibling assignment:

I woke up this morning with the words "Remember the Sabbath. Keep it Holy." (my paraphrase) repeating in my head.

Reflect however you'd like upon the idea of the sabbath and your practice of it.

We had recently been talking about this one afternoon at my Mom's house when RP was there, because he had taken a Sunday afternoon nap, and I told him, that was a good thing, because our pastor at church had just talked about the fourth commandment in the Bible.

These are some of the notes I took from that sermon that Pastor David Langer gave on July 18, 201o at Mountain View Congregational Church in Kellogg.

God built into His commandments a day of rest.

Working seven days a week breaks people's spirit. If they do work this hard, they can find ways to repair their spirit, such as drinking, drugs, illicit relationships, etc.

God realized people needed a day of rest.

If we over burden ourselves with work, we shouldn't pretend that we are doing this our of obedience to God.

God wants us not to overwork, but to refresh.

We must labor not for our own good, but for the labor of others.

Our fortunes and well being are not in our own hands, but they are in the hands of God.

We need rest!! God's purpose for the day of rest is to recreate us and refresh us.

God wants us to experience the blessings He has given us in life.

The Sabbath Day is a special gift of God to people.

God in His abundant grace wanted a time of joy and rest for all of creation.

Christ's love is meant to unite...God's Sabbath is meant to unite God's people in refreshment.

Concepts like a weekend or a five day work week came from the heart of God.

I know I feel much more rested if I get a nap on Sunday afternoon. Especially when things are really busy at work, and hectic and I'm working lots of hours, that day of rest is so important. I like being refreshed. I like slowing down the pace, and taking it easy.

I'm glad God steers us toward that time of refreshment.

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