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The Sabbath Environment
How interesting that amid all the work of creation, God was not quite done until He created the Sabbath day. What a contrast: all the work of creating the world, the animals, the seas, the grass, and finally humankind—and then, one final act, the act of resting.
Read Genesis 2:2, 3. What can we read into the fact that God Himself rested on the Sabbath day?
God Himself, in the role of Creator, keeping the seventh-day Sabbath? Talk about showing us the deep roots of the Sabbath! Whatever the implications of that idea, one thing is sure: the seventh-day Sabbath came from God long before there ever was a Jewish nation and people.
The Sabbath, meanwhile, has provided us an opportunity to focus attention on the Creator, His love, and His care for His creatures in a way that would otherwise not be easily available to us. It helped set a limit to labor, even in a time when labor was relatively easy and productive.
After sin entered and work became much harder and tiring (Gen. 3:17–19), this limit on work and the call to remember the Creator became even more important. As a reminder of the Creation itself, it should help us focus on our responsibility to our created world, as well.
As the centuries passed, the true meaning of the Sabbath rest became lost in numerous rules and regulations that turned the thoughts of the people away from the true meaning and value of the Sabbath.
Read Mark 2:27, 28 and Mark 3:4. What was Jesus’ under-standing of the Sabbath?
Christ restored the meaning of the Sabbath to what God originally intended it to mean. He showed how God viewed the day as a time for doing good, for seeking the advancement of His kingdom, and for being of service to all in need.
How could and should Sabbath keeping help us better understand the wonderful gift we’ve been given of this created world and, more so, how could and should it help us understand better our obligation to take care of it?
| MONDAY | April 26 |
How interesting that amid all the work of creation, God was not quite done until He created the Sabbath day. What a contrast: all the work of creating the world, the animals, the seas, the grass, and finally humankind—and then, one final act, the act of resting.
Read Genesis 2:2, 3. What can we read into the fact that God Himself rested on the Sabbath day?
God Himself, in the role of Creator, keeping the seventh-day Sabbath? Talk about showing us the deep roots of the Sabbath! Whatever the implications of that idea, one thing is sure: the seventh-day Sabbath came from God long before there ever was a Jewish nation and people.
The Sabbath, meanwhile, has provided us an opportunity to focus attention on the Creator, His love, and His care for His creatures in a way that would otherwise not be easily available to us. It helped set a limit to labor, even in a time when labor was relatively easy and productive.
After sin entered and work became much harder and tiring (Gen. 3:17–19), this limit on work and the call to remember the Creator became even more important. As a reminder of the Creation itself, it should help us focus on our responsibility to our created world, as well.
As the centuries passed, the true meaning of the Sabbath rest became lost in numerous rules and regulations that turned the thoughts of the people away from the true meaning and value of the Sabbath.
Read Mark 2:27, 28 and Mark 3:4. What was Jesus’ under-standing of the Sabbath?
Christ restored the meaning of the Sabbath to what God originally intended it to mean. He showed how God viewed the day as a time for doing good, for seeking the advancement of His kingdom, and for being of service to all in need.
How could and should Sabbath keeping help us better understand the wonderful gift we’ve been given of this created world and, more so, how could and should it help us understand better our obligation to take care of it?
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