Return to Index.

The Weekly Sabbath
August 25, 2012

I am in the minority as a Christian. Virtually all Christians observe Sunday as their religious day, and for me, Saturday is my religious day, as this is the day that reflects the Sabbath as taught in the Bible. I wish peace to all who believe differently and I realize my faith makes me different and I'm OK with being different. It might be a whole lot easier if everyone believed the same, and in an era where we must live by faith, we must be peaceful to those whose faith is different than ours. This must be the case when differences are huge or small. And for me a prominent difference is the weekly Sabbath. I don't believe in shopping on the Sabbath, I don't work on the Sabbath, and generally speaking, I believe the Sabbath is a day when there should be no worldly control over us. It is a day of rest, a day for family, a day for faithful reflection and worship. Many that I know do these on Sunday instead of Saturday, and for these differences I know there are variances of faith and when we meet Jesus, he will set us all straight. With Jesus in the referee shirt having the spiritual yellow flag, let's examine the weekly Sabbath knowing that many others write about Sunday observances.

Luke 6:1-11
And it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath days? And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which were with him; How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone? And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. And it came to pass also on another Sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.

How I observance the Sabbath may be different from a person adhering to the Jewish faith, and I think the passage from Luke shows that Jesus observed the Sabbath differently. Because I believe Jesus is the referee with spiritual yellow flag, I can in faith follow his lead, while giving plenty of space to those who see things differently while never wishing anything other than peace to them. This passage shows we can do good on the Sabbath and we can save lives on the Sabbath. Some may interpret this liberally and do many things, and others may be more conservative, doing less. We can either sit in judgment of what others do, or we can choose to be concerned with what we do, and this concept was alluded to by Jesus in the following passage found later in chapter six of Luke

Luke 6:37-49
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye. For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

Instead of being concerned with what others do, we need to be concerned with what we do-whether or not we are doing what Jesus tells us to do. When we do what Jesus tells us to do, we are rock solid, and when we don't do what Jesus tells us do, we are weak. Because I see the example of Jesus in keeping the Sabbath I see this is something I must do without judging those who believe otherwise and all I can do is request the same courtesy in return. My final thought on the Sabbath for this study is found in the writings of Paul to the Colossians.

Colossians 2:16-17
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Again, we are taught not to judge or be judged. Many of the things I do are a shadow of things yet to come, meaning there is value in there practice, and most important is to be focused on Christ. There are many I know with variances of faith who are also Christ-focused, and this is why I compare Jesus to a referee who decides who is right and wrong. Jesus will decide this, and at the current moment at the beginning of another Sabbath, I wish you would join me in observing the Sabbath, and I always wish you peace.

All verses are from the King James Version.
This site provided by Tom Laign. To all who may believe differently, I also extend peace and love.
Copyright and Legal Information
Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information