SPEND A DAY WITH ME
Today’s Text: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11)Today’s Thoughts: God created the world in six days and then rested on the seventh. He spent that day with Adam and Eve. God blessed the seventh day and set it apart as holy. He gave it as a rest-day for us. He definitely didn’t need the rest – He’s God. God knew that we would need a day to pause from the stresses of life and spend that day recharging in Him. God asked us to remember to keep this day holy because He knew how much we would need it. God cares about His children.
Today’s Testimony: So how has your week been so far? Are you anticipating the weekend? What plans do you have? Is your weekend going to be relaxing or just as busy as the rest of the week?
How’s your life been? Do you feel like you’re riding on an endless train ride? Do you live for the weekends and then when they’re over you feel no better than you did before they started? Could there be something better?
I get tired of studying and everyday business – I need a break. I could just settle for a relaxing weekend, but a spiritual recharge is much more effective. I spend a whole day with the Lord every week. A friend of mine refers to it as “you and Him time”. That’s exactly what it is. It’s my time to spend with the Lord; my time to recharge spiritually. It’s a time when I can withdraw from the concerns and cares of life. The Lord has given us one full day “off” every week – a day when we can rest from our labours of the week, a day when we can put our studies down and rest in the Lord. We do not have to worry about work-load piling up or failing the exam – God will take care of all those issues if we do what He’s asked and spend a day with Him. We need rest for a whole day each week and God knew that. We need to recharge spiritually for a whole day and God knew that. We might think we can cope without keeping His Sabbath holy and spending it with Him, but there is a special blessing, refreshing and peace for all those who take the time to obey this commandment.
The Sabbath is not a day to live for ourselves – it is a day dedicated to the Lord. The special Sabbath-rest consists of spending time in God’s Word (Acts 13:27;15:21), spending time in prayer (Acts 16:13), studying and sharing God’s Word (Acts 17:2; 18:4), going to worship God at church (Luke 4:16), spending time with fellow believers (Luke 14:1), doing good (Mark 3:4, 5) – this can be done by helping or visiting those who need it, not doing any work (Ex. 20: 10), not buying and selling (Neh. 10:31;13:15-22) and not doing our own pleasure or speaking our own words – our conversations must be Christ-centred (Is. 58:13,14). We should also prepare our hearts and our homes to keep the Sabbath the day before the Sabbath which was referred to as the preparation day (Mark 15:42). These are a few Biblical guidelines to enjoy a refreshing and peaceful Sabbath. There is a special blessing available to God’s children if they keep His Sabbath. He blessed the seventh day of the week and set it apart as holy – this day belongs to God. He wants to spend every Sabbath day with you. He deserves to be able to spend it with His people. But He also knew how much we would need a day of rest and recharge. God gave us the Sabbath for our benefit. He loves us!
Today’s Task: Remember the seventh-day-Sabbath and keep it holy. Spend a day every week with your Creator. Rest in the Lord and recharge. God gave you the day off – don’t forfeit that rest. He waits for you every Sabbath – do you come? Please don’t disappoint him. He spent 33 years here on this sin-loving planet just for us – surely we can spend one whole day each week with Him. I invite you to spend the Sabbath with the Lord. He is looking forward to it.
Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that You thought of how tired we would become and that we would need a break. I thank You that You knew that we would need a day to recharge in You. I thank You that You didn’t leave us with the option of whether or not to keep it – knowing that we do not know what is truly best for us – but that You commanded us to spend the Sabbath with You. Thank You for caring about us. I thank You that You blessed the seventh day and that we can still obtain that blessing by keeping it holy. I thank You that You, the Creator, want to spend one whole day with us, Your creation – WOW!!! Lord please help us to trust You and give Sabbath-rest a try. We need You! Please help us to spend this Sabbath and every coming one with You. We love You Lord. Amen.
