The Fourth Commandment

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." Exodus 20:8-11

This means exactly what it says. You work for 6 days and rest on the 7th day. Not just you either it is for your entire household and anyone that works for you. It also says to keep it holy...so on that day you are supposed to be worshiping or doing "holy" things. This was to be a day of complete rest.

This was also the seventh day. Which is Saturday. These days people tend to forget that Sunday is actually the first day of the week. I'm not sure how much this really matters. If the spirit of the law is observed...the letter of the law may not be so important. These days the world makes it very difficult to observe the sabbath on Saturday. Then again maybe God wants us to make the effort?

Many people think that the Sabbath is no longer required. Jesus observed the Sabbath himself however as did his disciples. They just didn't always observe it the way the Jewish Authorities thought it should be observed. They did what the authorities considered "work" on the sabbath. Jesus said that the "sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath."

These days with all the rushing about and activities that folks are involved in a day of rest is even more important. Everyone needs rest once in awhile...mental and emotional, as well as physical. This is a day when the television and telephone should be turned off too. Just get away from the world. Rest. Remember God.