Infinite Importance- the Sabbath.

'Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance.'

 C. S. Lewis

On the seventh day- God rested.

Gen 2:1  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 

Gen 2:2  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 

Gen 2:3  And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. 

Seven days, we mimic the seven days in our weeks and for most people that's as far as it goes. The count of seven days. On the Jewish calendar they call the days differently-  First Day, Second Day, Third Day and so on until Shabbat (God's Rest Day- which is the Seventh Day). The first day corresponds to our Sunday, the second to Monday and so on until Saturday - the seventh day.

The activity that comprised creation was work- active work. The words were spoken and the work took place. So few words for so much work.

Gen 1:11  And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 

The sheer number of grass species that exist is astounding. According to wikipedia there are about 12,000 species!  When God spoke the words of creation- in those word were something so profoundly incomprehensibly amazing we can scarcely begin to understand. It's easy to say on the third day God created grass, and in our mind's eye pops up a lawn of grass, or  field of green grass, or a hill covered in grass. However there were created over 12,000 different kinds of grass in those words of creation. 

We see again- in our mind's eye- that God speaks and instantly a thing appears. With this our belief - we who can imagine speaking things into existence could make so much happen. God did make so much happen but our generalization of everything can instantly take away from the comprehension of the sheer majesty involved.

Even this…

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 

Gen 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 

Gen 1:3  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 

Gen 1:4  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 

Gen 1:5  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 

While we want the instant to occur and it does, the whole of creation escape us.

A nothingness, then a heaven and an earth.  An earth with no form, empty, liquid deep. Over this dark, shapeless mass of liquid called into existence the Spirit of God moved and then spoke light into reality. Light was separate from dark, and so the first dark void of formless earth was night - no light, and the light became day. 

Did this all occur in a moment of time, a split second between thought and spoken word? Did it truly take an expanse of time ruled by what we use as our days the time the earth takes to rotate bringing it into the light of the distant sun? The sun at this point doesn't even exist. This day is purely the time allotted to it by God for His spoken word to create. And yes, I imagine it as a genie granting an instant wish no matter that the thing wished for might in all actually take a lot of time to create - an example- the wish for a huge mansion to live in. Instantly there, but to truly create that mansion would take months, years to complete.

Why all this speculation and such? Because we need to comprehend the work of creation in order for us to comprehend the rest day allotted.

Let's assume for a moment you can fully understand all that was created- the entire system we know as universe. And if you're knowledgeable in science-fiction, some would claim multiverses- multiple universes. Which could lead to infinityverses - a never ending existence of universes. For now, let's go back to just one universe.  In our one universe we have --

"Universe is the name that we use to describe the collection of all the things that exist in space. It is made of many millions of millions of stars and planets and enormous clouds of gas separated by a gigantic empty space. Astronomers can use telescopes to look at very distant galaxies."  (Simple Wikipedia)

All things that exist in space. And we can see out so far into space now with advance technology that we can comprehend on the smallest level the magnitude of creation.

All that exists was created, and the creation took place in six days of which we now know as days with the earth rotating once each day so that part of it at different times enter the light of the sun, and part enters the darkness from the lack of light from the sun. These we call days. My day is later than the designated day for those let's say in England. Their sun sets earlier than my sun, ( all the same sun ) their position enters the darkness before mine. The time we designate as a new day 12am (in darkness) is different for each of us. For England is may be five hours earlier than for me here in the USA all depending on the odd thing of daylight savings time and such.  They can say happy new year before I can, time being what it is.

In truth God chose Jerusalem as His promised land, and it all comes from thereabouts.  The Garden of Eden's location is unknown, guarded in such a way none can know. I like to imagine God wouldn't stray too far from the original home of our first ancestors to the promised land, but what do I know.

We have creation and we have no creation- which is rest.

Six days we work, we live our lives according to our own interests.

One day we are to rest in God's finished work, we are to live in God's interest.

Some shut out the entire world and enter into a zombie-fied existence of doing absolutely as little as possible- they might as well be in bed sleeping for all of 24 hours- this they call God's rest.  However we know that God would have us do His WILL on this day of His rest. Any other day we are doing our will with God directing our paths should we allow, but this day we should seek to do only God's will.  Is it God's will we eat? Yes, it could be unless you are called to fast. Is it God's will you interact with others? Yes, it could be unless you are called to solitude. God's will is a constantly flowing, living, breathing action that we must allow for without the strictures of traditions past down pointing to things fulfilled. The honoring of the Sabbath day in which we are to do no work, is our holding fast to seeking God's will upon that day and setting aside our own will.

We need to know the will of God- and we do know to have Him first and foremost is paramount and others after Him next, and ourselves last. We must remind ourselves of this all important truth constantly, and more than ever we gain a reminder on the Sabbath day how much this has to be if we would belong wholly to God for eternity.

May we be blessed with any and all comprehension we need to be wholly God's now and forever!!!!!!!