“Rest for the wicked; Hope for the weary.

Where did that thought come from, I wondered.  Could it have anything to do with all of those early mornings and late nights on the internet? (So I looked it up on the internet… didn’t find it… looked for the quote from the Bible… didn’t find it.)

My thought was actually concerning rest on the Sabbath, a Commandment. (Forgive us our trespasses.) Did our Father in heaven want us to rest for our own good and also worship the God of any of our goodness through Christ Jesus?  What do you think?

Deuteronomy 5:11 “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.

13b On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

“Observe the Sabbath… Did I remember that wrong? … (I’ll look it up on the internet.)

I found it. I did remember it. (I think I saw it on someone’s coffee cup somewhere.)

Exodus 20:8 KJV – Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 

What I had failed to ‘remember’ about the sabbath is the depth of meaning ‘to keep it holy.

qadash – to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate

Pharisees had complained about Jesus not keeping the sabbath; but His explanation does not justify any failure of ours to observe the holiness and separation God our Father intended for us to rest… consecrate Sunday and separate ourselves from the world to worship the Lord our God.

“Most Christians and most 21st c. christian families are guilty of NOT consecrating Sunday to be separate from the worldly and coming together before the Lord our God in holiness.

(Just an hour of so of obligation to ‘go to church’ hardly counts as “observe” or “consecrate” Sunday, to keep it HOLY.)

Have you and your 21st c. christian family also been as guilty of remembering to come together as a family of God and worship?

Forgive us, Lord.  We repent and seek the holiness of Jesus Christ.

In fact, God willing, I will take another day (after I have rested on Sunday) to talk about: “Rest for the wicked; Hope for the weary.

Remember to SHARE Christ Jesus and worship the Lord on Sunday as part of our family of the Lord.

Roger, your brother in Christ -+- Christian Social Witness