The Law of Love.

Jesus said…

If you love me, keep my commandments.

Recently studying the commandments of the royal law- the ten commandments written in stone by the finger of God- the ten commandments which Jesus over saw there on Sinai- the ten commandments which Jesus said would not pass away- these commandments given to humanity by our Creator as invaluable knowledge of the God we love and serve, the God who loves us- we continue with the fourth commandment.

Exo 20:8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 

Exo 20:9  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 

Exo 20:10  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 

Exo 20:11  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 

Restrictive or freeing?

The Lord gave us this unique commandment signing it with His seal-

Name, Title, Location -  the LORD thy GOD - CREATOR - HEAVEN, EARTH, SEA.

The Seal of God.

Every week in which there are seven days we are given the seventh day to devote solely to God and God's will.  God tells us to not work on this day- not do the very things that are engaged in for self-focus. We work, why? Because we were told this-- 

Gen 3:17  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 

Gen 3:18  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 

Gen 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 

We need to work to live because no longer would sustenance be provided for us.  God did not want us to get so caught up in providing for ourselves that we would lose sight of our need of Him. Truthfully, God created the Sabbath before man sinned because God wanted human begins -those of independent thought and will- to forever enjoy the bond that the Creator wanted to have with His creatures. A special time set aside for the Creator and Creature that nothing could disrupt- no activity whatsoever would interfere with this weekly, full day renewal. When man sinned the need for the Sabbath only became more paramount. The Sabbath is vital for the creatures to keep to be as close as they possibly could be to their Creator in their sinful state.

Commanded to love. Each of the ten commandments reveals the love of God for us. Not a single commandment was given to restrict us in any way, but rather free us in the love of God.

God's love for His creatures is set in stone, renewed in the blood of Christ, our Savior who kept the ten commandments perfectly.  We, if we love Christ, will also keep the commandments, the law of love.