On Keeping the Sabbath: The Holy Day

"Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant..."         ~Exodus 31:16

Shabbat Shalom!  I've been thinking about the Sabbath a lot recently. I've been wondering about just what it means to keep the Sabbath out of reverence for Yahweh.

It's clear that the Sabbath was built to last.  It's referred to by Yahweh as a "perpetual covenant", a lasting ordinance, a statue meant to be kept forever (Ex. 12:14).  The Sabbath is even counted and kept in Heaven (Isaiah 66:23).  And it's meant to be kept by the Children of Israel, the children and heirs to the promise.  Guess what?  You're an heir to the promise (Gal. 3:29).  You're included in spiritual Israel!

"...It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed."      ~Exodus 31:17

The Sabbath is a sign.  It symbolizes rest, completion, fulfillment, contentment.  It symbolizes the creation of a finished work.  It requires trust -- trust enough to deny oneself and look to Yahweh as provider (Lev. 16:31).

The law points us to Messiah (Colossians 2:17), and Messiah gives us His Spirit, allowing us to perfect holiness before God (2nd Cor. 7:1).  The flavor of the Law has more than been changed -- it has been fulfilled (Matthew 5:17).  The law of love perfects us from the inside out.  But how does that play out practically?  What does keeping the Sabbath Day look like, today?  Here's a clue:

And He [Yahshua] said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."

~Mark 2:27

The Sabbath was instated for our own good. We get the benefit of giving our time to God. We can enjoy everything, and do everything willingly.  Not under compulsion, but willingly (2nd Cor. 9:7)! That's a weighty thing to get a hold of.  Don't feel like doing something?  Then put it off.

"Love God, and do whatever"       ~ St. Augustine

I didn't do a single thing this past Sabbath day that I didn't want to do.  It was very restful; Everything was enjoyable.  Everything was intentionally done, and I thanked my Heavenly Father for it all.  God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7, again), and then He lets us love Him back. Thanks to Him, there was no "work".  I did some chores, yeah, but that didn't count.  Why? Because I gave my time to the Breath that first gave it to me.  I was able to be restfully thankful for it.  He created such bliss for me, for you.

The definition of work's been redefined (Hebrews 4:10). If you enjoy something, it's not work.  If you remain peaceful while doing random stuff, it's not work.  It's lawful to do good on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:12).  And what is good?  Hopefully everything you do! There remains a Sabbath Day;s Rest that transcends observing any particular day of the week...but more on this in the next blog post.

If for no other reason, keeping the Sabbath day to give your physical body some rest is definitely a good idea.  Lots of Christians, out of zeal for the Lord, have gotten burnt out by neglecting their bodies. They're fallen out of "ministry", or worse, even died young. The Sabbath was created for us -- for our health, relaxation, and holy enjoyment!  It's supposed to be restful and fun.

(To reiterate, if you don't feel like doing something, then don't do it!)

You Died on the Cross

Freedom from sin has been on my mind recently.  The greatest freedom we can achieve on this earth, ultimately, is freedom from ourselves.  God doesn't want our mental constructs, paradigms, or limitations to hold us back! He doesn't want sin bogging us down.  We are free to enjoy and fulfill unity with Christ.  Romans 6 says a lot about this, and I believe that there is an important revelatory key to be found here, in the first 7 verses:

"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?"

The passing of the Law does not license sin.  It doesn't legalize it or anything.  The presence of grace does not permit sin; though the presence of sin permits grace to act.

"May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?"

Grace is for gifting, not for sinning (Acts 4:33).  We are not to live in something that Jesus died to eradicate.  Sin is still self-harming and separates from God.  Sinfulness in the life of a believer will always lead to the illusion of punishment.  It gives satan an open door to work.

"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?"

Baptism is symbolic of death.  Did you know that death can be joyful?  That death can be pleasurable?  Well, it is, if for no other reason that because baptism is.  Dying to self is a holy thing.  The old has been buried, forgotten, rendered obsolete. That means the shameful parts of you!

"Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life."

Newness of life is an everyday thing.  It has been you state of being since the first moment you believed, and it will continue to be your state of being forever.  You death to self has been sealed for a while now.  It's not something you have to work yourself into every morning.  It's just something that you have to remember and believe.  You new nature is natural.  

"For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,"

We were united with Him in the likeness and heavenly substance of His death.  We were right there! A few days ago, I was given a vision where I saw our Master being crucified.  I was an onlooker. I gazed on this scene for a while, and it was somber.  I didn't want to be far off.  And then things changed.  I was transmitted onto His broken body!  I was right there on that cross with Him; I was part of Him.  I shared in His sufferings (Romans 8:17).  He was broken so I could be broken, so that I could get out of my own way.  And the entire penalty, the one I deserved, was taken away from me.  The entire transaction was a beautiful, mystical thing to witness.

And, going back to the last verse, We have been raised through glory, through the glory of our Glorious Father.  When we remember His death, we remember our resurrection.  It's been a past tense thing.  Knowing you've died is freeing.  Knowing that you're now living in "the likeness of His resurrection" is even better!

"knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;"

See, we are free from sin.  Our sin nature has be crushed.  It's a part of us that didn't, hasn't, and won't come back.  We are slaves to righteousness, love slaves!

"for he who has died is freed from sin"

We have died to human desire, temptation, and sin, and all we need to do is remember it.  That's where the current manifestation comes in.  The punishment for sin has also lost it's hold on us.  A dead person doesn't need to fear the law!  And neither do we.

We died with Him.  We were resurrected with Him.  We are constantly being regenerated with Him. We are free to live with Him.  That means life to the fullest.

No longer do we have a predisposition to be angry, or to be worried, or to be sad.  We may go through those things, but negative emotions should only be the exception that proves the rule.  Life is beautiful and fun, it's holy and free.  That's how Yahshua meant it to be!

Living in Thanks

"I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of Yahweh"   ~Psalm 107:22

So many things in our lives can be sanctified by thanksgiving.  Whether we are waking up in the morning, working, or folding laundry doesn't really matter--we can experience the holiness weaved into each moment by awakening to a state of thanksgiving.

When we call on the name of Yahweh, we're really also calling on all that goes with it.  We are calling on a force greater and more noble than ourselves.  We are calling for a spirit of thankfulness and gratitude to overtake us.

So many rituals in the Old Testament point to future spiritual parallels found in the New (Colossians 2:17), It's our job, not God's, to become appropriately thankful for all the things He's already done.  Thanks offerings are still a part of the righteous person's walk.

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful."

We're no longer on the other side of the fence, offering sacrifices to a distant, overarching God. Yahshua has come!  Instead, we can let Christ in us commune with the Father in the same way He did while on earth in bodily form.  We're one with Him, and He's one with us, even One with all who believe.  Thankfulness can be our natural state of being.  It's part of our calling, and it's a medium through which more specialized aspects of our Father's plans are directed.  God doesn't always make things easy, but He does make things easier.