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My
Faith Meets My World: The Sabbath is Rest |
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Seventh
Day Sabbath
Every
seventh day, my husband and I heed the command,
"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, not 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. We
worship together at our
church. |
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G, Kenneth. "bbsunset.jpg." Pics4Learning. May 2000.
http://pics.tech4learning.com.
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Friday
Preparation
On Friday, preparation day, we prepare our hearts and
homes for the Sabbath, which begins at sundown Friday
evening, and ends Sabbath evening (Saturday night) at
sunset. (from evening to evening, you shall celebrate
your Sabbath. Leviticus 23:32.) It's so awesome
to come home from work on Friday and feel the cares
and burdens of the week slip away in expectation of
a wonderful Sabbath rest. |
Sabbath
Reflection
Sabbath
is a time for reflection. I think about the direction
of my life, how my week went. I get to talk about it
(with more time than I usually have during the week)
with a Friend who loves and cares for me. "For
I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the
Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you
a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and
go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you
will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with
all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord."
Jeremiah 29:11-14. Not only does He care for me,
but He has the power to change my life and my heart,
and give me the strength to live my life more like Him.
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit
within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your
flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit
within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and
you will keep My judgments and do them." Ezekiel
36:26-27. |
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Family
Sabbath
gives me time for my family. Seems like society these
days really struggles with time for family. On Sabbath
we have time to each all three meals together. Sabbath
also strengthens our commitment to have family worship
together during the week. It gives us time to be together,
to share stories of our week and how God has blessed
us or how we need His strength. We don't listen to the
radio or turn on the TV. We forget our work and our
cares and focus on time with God and family. |
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Service
Sabbath
is a time to serve God and my community too. "Is
this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds
of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the
oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? is
it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that
you bring to your house the poor who are cast out. .
. If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from
doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath
a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall
honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your
own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you
shall delight yourself in the Lord." Isaiah 58:6-7,
13-14. |
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The
Sabbath is a Sign
- The
Sabbath is also a sign of His rest, that I can rest
being confident of this very thing, that He who
has begun a good work in me will complete
it until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6.
- It's
also an evidence and sign that I believe in God.
"Keep My Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign
between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord
your God." Ezekiel
20:20, NIV.
- It's
a sign that God sanctifies or cleanses, purifies,
sets me apart as His.
"Moreover I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between
Me and them, that they might know that I the Lord
sanctify them." Ezekiel 20:12, RSV. I
don't have to work my way to heaven, I rest in His
salvation and accept what Jesus did for me on the
cross.
- It's
also a constant reminder that God is Creator, and
that He can recreate my heart and life in His image
too! 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 20:11.
He created me! He has a purpose for my life
on this earth.
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Kronkvist, Asa. "bok1.jpg." Pics4Learning. February
2000.
http://pics.tech4learning.com.
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