"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
Having addressed the working aspect of the fourth commandment, let’s launch into the not working part. As mentioned, not working does not mean being idle. Nor does it preclude works of worship, service, charity, or emergency (donkeys do fall into ditches from time to time! Luke 14:5). It refers, rather, to our regular labors and commerce. (Refer to the previous post for an explanation of those terms if needed.) So how should we implement this?
First, because God does not give us a laundry list of dos and don’ts, we ought not create such a list either—not for ourselves and especially not for others. We are each responsible to make appropriate application based on a God-informed conscience. God-informed means honestly asking the Lord for direction. We should also remain open to the likelihood that over time our consciences will mature in sensitivity.
There is little doubt that working at our regular jobs on the Lord’s Day must generally cease. I say generally because there are jobs that must continue for the health and safety of society. These jobs likely include: police, fire, medical services, and even maintaining utilities. This is an illustrative, not an exhaustive list.
I would hasten to counsel Christians who understand the concept of the Sabbath, who also work in these kinds of jobs, to request and do all they can to get Sundays off as a matter of religious conviction. I would also counsel Christians to do everything they can to be sure to go to church on Sunday even if they must also work, and to plan another day as a Sabbath day. I would also offer these additional cautions:
Be honest with yourself about what kinds of work truly fall into the category of “necessary.”
Realize that if you are a student, your work is school, so plan ahead so that your necessary home work that is due on Monday is not put off until Sunday. Work that could be done during the six days but was neglected until the last minute on Sunday is not really necessary work. It is more likely a matter of poor planning.
More to think about next time…