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Pastor's Pen
Stay up to date on the life of our church with Pastor Gary Turk's blog, updated monthly. His blog features devotional reflections, reports, observations, and more!From Sabbath To Weekend
01 October 2009 / 11:28 AM
The Bible tells us that in six days God created all things and on the seventh day He rested. In the book of Exodus the seventh day became known as the Sabbath, and when God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses He said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy…the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God” (Ex. 20:8, 10). It was to be a day of rest and worship of God.
Throughout the Scriptures the Sabbath day was to be kept as holy, a day set apart from all the other days, a day to rest from labor and to draw near to God. In the New Testament, we read of Jesus going into the synagogue on the Sabbath day “as was his custom” (Lk. 14:16).
After the resurrection of Jesus, which took place on the first day of the week, that first day would become the day of rest and worship for Christians. Every first day of the week would be a reminder and celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Thus, the first day of the week became the Christian Sabbath. Before the end of the first century that first day of the week would be referred to by Christians as “the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10).
Down across the ages, where the Christian church has held sway, the phrase “the Lord’s Day” has been in prominent usage until more recent times. Now, we are more likely to call that day by its secular name, “Sunday,” than we are to refer to it as “the Lord’s Day.” This has been a subtle but significant change. By dropping the reference to “the Lord’s Day” we have, over time, shifted the focus of the day away from church, worship and God to just another day.
Even more significant is the subtle change where we don’t even call it Sunday, but we refer to it as “the weekend.” The connotation is that the weekend is “our day(s)” to spend as we like for our own pleasurable pursuits. Now we have left God out altogether. The Lord’s Day has been replaced by the weekend. Our focus on the Lord has been replaced by our focus on self.
While we all use these various terms, we often fail to realize the subtle ways they influence our thought patterns, our values and our life styles. When we get our focus off of “the Lord’s Day” then it becomes just another day for us to fill however we want.
We need to regain the significance of the Christian Sabbath, a day to keep holy unto the Lord, “the Lord’s Day.” It is to be a day, above all else, to worship the Lord. What are you doing to keep it holy unto the Lord?
Throughout the Scriptures the Sabbath day was to be kept as holy, a day set apart from all the other days, a day to rest from labor and to draw near to God. In the New Testament, we read of Jesus going into the synagogue on the Sabbath day “as was his custom” (Lk. 14:16).
After the resurrection of Jesus, which took place on the first day of the week, that first day would become the day of rest and worship for Christians. Every first day of the week would be a reminder and celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Thus, the first day of the week became the Christian Sabbath. Before the end of the first century that first day of the week would be referred to by Christians as “the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10).
Down across the ages, where the Christian church has held sway, the phrase “the Lord’s Day” has been in prominent usage until more recent times. Now, we are more likely to call that day by its secular name, “Sunday,” than we are to refer to it as “the Lord’s Day.” This has been a subtle but significant change. By dropping the reference to “the Lord’s Day” we have, over time, shifted the focus of the day away from church, worship and God to just another day.
Even more significant is the subtle change where we don’t even call it Sunday, but we refer to it as “the weekend.” The connotation is that the weekend is “our day(s)” to spend as we like for our own pleasurable pursuits. Now we have left God out altogether. The Lord’s Day has been replaced by the weekend. Our focus on the Lord has been replaced by our focus on self.
While we all use these various terms, we often fail to realize the subtle ways they influence our thought patterns, our values and our life styles. When we get our focus off of “the Lord’s Day” then it becomes just another day for us to fill however we want.
We need to regain the significance of the Christian Sabbath, a day to keep holy unto the Lord, “the Lord’s Day.” It is to be a day, above all else, to worship the Lord. What are you doing to keep it holy unto the Lord?