For He spake in a certain place of the seventh day
on this wise, and God did rest the seventh day from all His works. Hebrews, Chapter 4, verse 4.
I like the way that God looks out for my family in
spite of our weaknesses. He knows that I
work intensely all week and I spend all weekend either caught up in doing the
things I took home from work or I get involved in other projects. If I spend all my spare time focused on work
and projects, then I’m not spending my time focused on God and my family.
I have an aunt and an uncle who don’t work on the
day that they go to church. I always
thought it was admirable, but I would come up with twenty billion reasons why I
needed to do these projects instead.
When I read the Bible, I realized that God says over and over again
(mostly in the Old Testament) that we aren’t supposed to work on the Sabbath
and are to have a day of rest, focusing on God and our family.
I got to thinking about this. If He went out of His way to make sure that
this was in the Bible so many times, there must be a good reason for it. The more I thought about it, I realized that
if we are doing things from work or other projects all week, we will rarely
find quality time for God and our family.
God wants us to have priorities in our lives. After God who is our first priority, our
families should come next and then our work.
Think of how many children rarely get to spend time with their parents
because they are too busy working late or they are involved in work related
projects at home.
God also gives us added benefits for not working on
the Sabbath. Taking this day to focus on
God and our families allows us to be refreshed for the new week. When we stay busy all weekend after a hectic
week, we are more apt to become impatient with our family members over the
little things that arise. Additionally,
when we get caught up in our work and projects, we are more apt to find excuses
for not going to church with our family.
The worst part is that we are poor examples to our
children. If we stay busy working all
the time, they won’t grow up learning how to pace themselves either. Everyone needs to maintain a healthy balance
in their lives. If work becomes the sole
focus, then our families are bound to lose out-not to mention us.
Someday our kids will be grown and out of the
house. Will they come and visit us
regularly when we are older? Did we
model the importance of family time while they were growing up? Will they be too busy doing their own
projects and work that they have no time for us? What’s worse is the possibility that they
will have no time for their own families.
Are we perpetuating a cycle of super busy people who have little time to
interact with others? That’s something
to think about.
As I said, God has this stated and restated
throughout the Bible. I’m going to list
some of the Bible passages that support this so you can see the lengths that
God went to in order to remind us to have a day of rest to focus on Him and our
families.
Here are some related passages:
*Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh
day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy
handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
Exodus, Chapter 23, verse 12.
*Speak thou also unto the children of Israel Israel Israel
*And Moses gathered all the congregation of the
children of Israel
*Ye shall keep My Sabbaths, and reverence My
sanctuary: I am the LORD. Leviticus,
Chapter 19, verse 30.
*Speak unto the children of Israel
*Ye shall keep My Sabbaths, and reverence My
sanctuary. I am the LORD. Leviticus,
Chapter 26, verse 2.
*There dwelt men of Tyre
also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the
Sabbath unto the children of Judah ,
and in Jerusalem Judah Israel
*Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and
bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;
Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, neither do
ye any work, but hallow ye the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they obeyed not, neither inclined their
ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive
instruction. And it shall come to pass,
if ye diligently hearken unto Me saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through
the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no
work therein; Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and
princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses,
they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem:
and this city shall remain for ever. And
they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem,
and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and
from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings,
and incense and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD. But if ye will not hearken unto Me to hallow
the Sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of
Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof,
and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be
quenched. Jeremiah, Chapter 17, verses
21-27.
Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn’t necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage.
