Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Celebration”
Our Bible verse for today: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work – you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates. For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “The Sabbath is a day for holy celebration.”
Not only did God intentionally set aside one day each week for rest, worship, and fellowship, but He did so by making it one of the Ten Commandments. As far as God is concerned, it is so important for His people to come together at least once a week that He made it a requirement – the fourth of His Ten Commandments.
Why is this such a big deal to God? Because we need it. We need to rest, we need to decompress from the burdens and cares of life, and we need to be gathered with our brothers and sisters. This is so important, and there is so much to be gained from it, that the writer of the letter to the Hebrews reminded his readers that they were not to neglect these gatherings (Hebrews 10:24-25). Just in case there was any doubt in anybody’s mind, he made a clear connection in that passage between the fourth commandment and the gathering together of God’s people.
When we decide to skip church, for any reason, we have made an intentional decision to disobey the fourth commandment. Sometimes Christians try to rationalize such disobedience with silly reasoning like, “I don’t need to be in church to worship God. I can observe the Sabbath and worship God on the golf course!” Or, “I’m worshiping God from the comfort of my living room while I watch Charles Stanley on TV.”
Do you think God really buys that? No, me neither. The Lord probably rolls His eyes and mutters something about what a lame excuse it is.
In both the Old and New Testaments the keeping of the Sabbath was clearly and distinctly associated with the gathering together of God’s people in their designated places of worship. There was singing and praising, teaching and fellowship, and a spirit of celebration before the Lord. That’s what the Sabbath day is for. It was true back then and it’s still true today.
Jesus summed it up in Mark 2:27 when He said, “The Sabbath was made for man.” We need this. God instituted the Sabbath for our benefit. I encourage you to gather with your church family this Sunday.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 