“Blessed is the man who does this (good start – yes, you have our attention) and lays hold of it… that keeps the Sabbath from polluting it and keeps his hand from evil (of polluting it)… even the stranger who has joined himself to the Lord… to serve Him, and love Him, and who keeps the Sabbath and doesn’t pollute it… even them I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer…” “Six days will you work and the seventh day is the Sabbath (day of rest) and you will not work (for gain) on that day… for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and all that is in it and He ceased from His work on the seventh day and blessed it and made it a holy-day…” And because Jesus healed people on the day of rest they persecuted Him as a law breaker and He replied, “The Sabbath day was made for man (a repose and commemoration of God’s own “rest”) and not man for the Sabbath (to merely keep a tradition)… therefore the son of man is Lord of the Sabbath… and it is right to do good on the Sabbath and not do evil!” OK! Lots of text. Aside from the silly argument about which day is the “Sabbath” (to the Jewish people it is Saturday, their Shabbat. To Christians it is Sunday. To people who are neither…) it is by definition; a day in seven set aside for rest from secular vocation [for profit]. And it is profitable for us (He did say “blessed,” to pick a day in each week to take a day off our laboring) to set our minds on God, and His creative purposes, and in some cases to have the time, opportunity and focus to do good to someone that our jobs/pursuits wouldn’t normally allow. Now, there was a time when workaholism might have been a problem… but the problem today is not so much a person working too much… but wanting to work far less… and using the off time to do absolutely nothing productive. Even on this extreme end we need to hear; “Six days will you work and on the seventh you will rest… and blessed is the one who has this in balance!” Working is good for mankind. Work was created before the fall of man. It became hard after the fall but work is not a punishment. It keeps us productive. There is nothing so dangerous as people who have too much free time on their hands (you know it’s true). Time is the only commodity we get to spend only once… and too much free time is a lot like the Geico Money Man commercial with the motorcycle guy riding down the road with bills flipping off his back… So let’s all look for the balance for us. Not too much work… but six days dedicated to being productive and profitable… and a day of contemplation of God’s goodness, nature and character (maybe with some extra actions, like healing, helping, meeting people, aligned with His great purpose!). Blessed is the man who does this…!
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 10:46:20 +0000
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