"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
We started considering ways we can “keep the Sabbath day Holy.” We’ll conclude that list of suggestions this time. But before doing so, let us be reminded why this is important. We are considering the Ten Commandments. We are considering the fourth commandment about how God is to be worshiped on the Lord’s Day. May I suggest, this matter is important.
That said, let’s consider three more ways we can “keep the Sabbath day holy.”
First, exercise Christian hospitality. We can “keep the Sabbath day holy” by inviting people over for a meal on the Lord’s Day once a month. Consider inviting two kinds of people.
Inviting people from church over is a great way to worship the Lord through hospitality. May I suggest praying about inviting people, who you may not know, so well instead of your friends? Ask the Lord to bring to mind those who are new to the church and/or are not so well known. I trust that the reason is obvious.
Another kind of person to have over are people who do not already know the Lord. I am not suggesting inviting people over to trap them into sitting through a presentation of the gospel. Just invite people over to show the love of Christ. If the opportunity to share the gospel arises, great. But initially, we want to show the love of God, so people do not feel like they were set up for a religious multi-level marketing pitch!
Second, engaging in acts of kindness or mercy is a great way to worship the Lord. Visit a shut-in or someone in a hospital. These kinds of visits need not be lengthy or have any agenda other than simply showing kindness. That you went to see them is more important than anything else. If you want to kick it up a notch, bring a meal or a plate of “homemade something.”
Third, sharing Christ is an act of worship. I will not give specific details other than to encourage you to ask the Lord how you can share Christ and the gospel on the Lord’s Day, and with whom. Whether speaking with someone or writing to someone, if you earnestly want to share Christ, and seek Him about how, He’ll show you a way.
Lest we forget the general context of this blog post, we are thinking of ways to worship the Lord on the Lord’s Day. The suggestions shared in this and the previous post are intended to help us “keep the Sabbath Day holy.”
Next time: A little about working and not working on the Lord’s Day.