Sabbath sinning

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy

Holy- 'to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate'

To keep it holy.

To keep it consecrated.

To keep it sanctified.

To keep it prepared.

To keep it dedicated.

To keep it hallowed.

To keep it separate.

We reveal the IMPORTANCE of a day by various means.  For someone's birthday we treat them extra special with perhaps breakfast in bed, a nice lunch at a favorite restaurant, a yummy birthday cake, presents.  We do the same for anniversaries and various days we label holidays. The day is special and often times people are allowed the day off school and work when there are days we label extra special.  Because we allow days off we are saying this day is so special we don't want you to have to work or go to school on this day. For those professions where people work 24/7 year round they are more often than not given compensation for having to work on that special day of the year.

Man has deemed several days every year to be this special, but God has deemed the SABBATH DAY to be this special and the SABBATH DAY occurs on the seventh day of every week, the day HE chose to rest upon, the day HE chose to sanctify to make holy, the day HE made for US.

We are to keep this day HOLY.  He tells us too, Jesus did throughout His entire life even resting in the grave on the Sabbath before rising on the first day of the week.  That Sabbath rest in His grave is something that is overlooked.  People tend to just gloss over it real quickly as if it wasn't important at all and only the first day of the week is significant because Jesus rose that day.  Jesus could have been crucified on any day, and Jesus could have risen on any day- but one.

Our Savior would NOT be put to death on the SABBATH.

Our Savior would NOT be called to rise from the dead on the SABBATH.

In fact, the Sabbath was drawing near after He'd died and HIS followers, HIS disciples, HIS loved ones wanted His body quickly put in the tomb BEFORE the Sabbath arrived. Why?

Living in a world such as we live in today when the majority of people do all sorts of things regardless of the day, it's almost too hard for people to fathom such restrictions.

They eagerly wanted the dead Jesus quickly taken care of. In fact, they KNEW they didn't have time to properly prepare Him for His burial, but they still wanted Him laid to rest before the Sabbath. 

Mar 15:42  And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,

Mar 15:43  Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.

Mar 15:44  And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.

Mar 15:45  And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.

Mar 15:46  And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.

Mar 15:47  And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.

Mar 16:1  And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

This was the DEATH, the VERY REAL DEATH of the SAVIOR, the SON OF GOD and HE remained UN-ANOINTED for a FULL DAY.

Jesus' body, His lifeless body void of the breath of life, lay in the dark tomb not anointed on the Sabbath day and then until the next morning hours into the first day of the week which began at sundown.  He rested in death's sleep, laid in the tomb.

If Jesus had died on a Wednesday- the middle of the week- His body would have been anointed, there would have been time to anoint His body before the Sabbath. His body would NOT have rested before they anointed Him with the oils and spices they prepared.

IF our Savior had ended the weekly Sabbath observance there would have been no need for anyone, especially His followers who understood Him more than any others, to have kept from anointing His body.

Our Savior did NOT abolish the weekly Sabbath and HIS laying in the tomb without being anointed is one proof of this.

The Sabbath importance was the FIRST amazing reaffirmation made by our Savior after His death.

That Sabbath was KEPT HOLY, that very first Sabbath after Jesus' death was kept holy by all of Jesus' followers.

We are to keep the Sabbath day holy.

Why?

Because our GOD, our HEAVENLY FATHER, our SAVIOR asks us to do so.

Keep it holy. Set it aside. This day will be different from all the others of the week.  It's NOT the same as those days. It was made special for us.  Yet because in our sin warped world we tend to think of special days as something containing ribbons, balloons, streamers, posters, cakes, cookies, and a ton of self-indulgence, we don't quite want to understand how this day is to be Holy and to be Special without all the trappings.  A weekly day, a whole day, special?  Why don't we make this day special as we are told to do? And not through the concept of self-indulgence, but in self-sacrifice.

Seriously.  To set aside self for one day, just one day in every seven, and do that on God's holy Sabbath day, the seventh day, Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, a whole Biblical day.

Set aside self.

Why set aside self? Because in truth it is self we must set aside in accepting Jesus, isn't it?

I did not read the commandment to love self.

I did read the commandments to love God and to love my neighbors (all others).

I read this too-

Luk 9:23  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Let him DENY HIMSELF.

Let him TAKE UP HIS CROSS DAILY.

Let Him FOLLOW ME.

2Ti 3:1  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2Ti 3:2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

2Ti 3:3  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

2Ti 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

It is PERILOUS (DANGEROUS) to be among the 'MEN SHALL BE LOVERS OF THEIR OWN SELVES'!

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

WE - that self we tend to indulge - is CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST.  CHRIST lives in US when we are saved by HIM, choosing to follow HIM.  We have to continue to live in our flesh, but daily we pick up our crosses.  Daily we are allowing ourselves, our selfishness, our self-indulgence, our self-absorption be  CRUCIFIED with CHRIST.  CHRIST must LIVE IN US through FAITH.  We must allow CHRIST TO LIVE IN US.  And if we ALLOW CHRIST to live in us then we are allowing Him to save us from all that is in us that would destroy us.

WE MUST let CHRIST LIVE IN US!  In a real way, not in a seconds thought of Him as our Savior, but in a daily, hourly, minutely way where HE is with us in ALL we do, not just a few chosen moments we allow Him in our lives.

The SABBATH is to be kept Holy, set aside, sanctified, DIFFERENT from every other day of our week! On this day more than any other we are to be renewed by the Holy Spirit so that we can get through six days every week that have NOT been  set aside for us, but given to us to work, work, work, work, work, and work.

If we indulge in our SELF LOVE by giving into Satan's temptations that will draw us as far from God as possible on this day set aside, then we are missing out on a blessing, and we are SINNING. 

Yes, SINNING.

This is a COMMANDMENT from our SAVIOR, from our GOD the FATHER!

We sin when we do NOT keep the commandment MADE for us.

We throw away this amazing gift to us, and in doing so we proclaim that we have no need of this Sabbath, and no need of the God who commands us to keep the Sabbath.

LORD please, help us. The self inside of us, the flesh that would corrupt us fully and leave us without hope is fighting against us, making it so that we find it all but impossible to set aside a SINGLE day for YOU, a day YOU made FOR US, for our GOOD, our SPIRITUAL, PHYSICAL, and MENTAL GOOD.

Please SAVIOR GOD, please save us! FORGIVE us our sins! Forgive us for believing that we can do as we please, indulge self endlessly day after day, after day without any consequence. 

Please keep us from Sabbath sinning!

Help us LORD! Save US!

All in YOUR LOVE, by YOUR GRACE!