"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Exodus 20:8-11
Because the Sabbath day is a day and not merely the brief time spent in church on Sunday morning, we might wonder if we are to spend the entire day in worship, scripture reading, and prayer. While some might, few will. And it is not necessary that we do.
While the Sabbath day is for worship, it is also a day for rest from our regular labors. Therefore, rest and recreation are perfectly appropriate, as long as we can do what we do as unto the Lord! But shouldn’t that be true of every day? Yes, but it is especially true of the Lord’s day.
In the next posts we will address the matter of working six days and not working on the Sabbath, but for now, suffice it to say that we each should seek the Lord to “keep the Sabbath day holy” as per the commandment. And a great way to do that is to devote as much time on the Lord’s day to holy activities at, or associated with, church.
For instance, at times there are adult Sunday School classes. Why not commit to that opportunity? After all it is the Lord’s day. And if I may insert this, please do not make the mistake of thinking Sunday School is a substitute for corporate worship. It is not. Think of three elements of the corporate worship service that are not in Sunday School: worship in song, prayer, and the Lord’s Supper!
Also on the Lord’s day there are opportunities for more prayer. We have a 30 minute pre-worship prayer meeting from 9:45—10:15 am. We also have a monthly lunch prayer meeting on the fourth Sunday of each month. Why would we neglect these opportunities for prayer on the Lord’s day? After all it is the Lord’s day.
And what about Home Fellowships? They meet on the second Sunday of each month. They are a time for ministering to one another in the body. After all, it is the Lord’s day.
I’ll make a few more suggestions on how to keep the Lord’s day holy next time.