God Has a Holiday?
Myth: It's Legalistic to Keep the Sabbath
Travis was almost six when his parents divorced.
For the first few weeks, he just kept searching out the window
hoping that his father would come home.
Then one day Travis' father finally called.
Travis was excited to remind him of his birthday party.
"Oh yeah son, I'll be there!" was his father's reply.
His birthday came with a bright blue sky,
but down inside Travis was dark and gloomy.
Travis waited at the window, staring at the driveway for hours.
Finally, his mom said it was time to blow out his candles.
There were lots of presents and friends at his party
but the absence of his father ruined the day.
A few of days later, there was a knock at the front door.
Travis opened it, shocked to see his father standing there.
His father held a gift in his hands.
He took Travis to the zoo and out for ice cream.
But no matter what his father did that day,
he could not make it up that Travis' birthday had been ruined.
Travis is grown up now with kids of his own.
He has even forgiven his dad for that missed birthday,
but he is very careful to make sure that he is there
for every birthday, ballgame and school play for his own kids.
Travis' love language is time spent with others.
He was glad to discover that God sets aside
one day every week to spend time with his children.
Do you remember how fun it was to wake up on your birthday
and know that you didn't have to do certain chores
because it was your birthday?
Maybe your mom made a cake or bought one.
Sometimes there were wrapped presents
and other times special trips.
Doesn't it seem like birthdays require
certain special traditions?
How would you feel
if you ran to the bathroom to wash your hands
only to discover when you came back
that someone else had blown out all your candles?
Are you are particular about how
you observe your special day?
Did you know that God started the birthday tradition?
When He finished creating all the animals and Adam and Eve,
God blessed and set aside the Sabbath day!
Can you think of anything else
that was blessed and set aside by God?
God wants us to remember
who we are and that we were loved into existence.
He is like a doting parent
who longs to celebrate and remember his child's birthday.
Try to imagine that first Sabbath.
Maybe it was sort of like when they finished Disney World
and threw a huge party,
but this was an even bigger celebration
because it celebrated all the wonders of creation!
Do you think Adam and Eve felt obligated
or told God that they would celebrate on Wednesday instead?
The purpose of the Sabbath is to be delight.
Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man.
Can you think of reasons why
God's enemy might want us to forget the Sabbath?
When the Sabbath reminds us of who we are
and where we came from.
It helps us remember that we were created
in the image of God, which heals our low self-esteem.
God has designed our minds and bodies to heal
when we take time off from our daily schedule
and allow God to recharge and recreate us.
So if today was your birthday
and your family decided to celebrate
by having a picnic at the park, what would you do?
Would you think it a burden to party with your friends?
Would you say, "No, first I'll go to work today,
then pay all the bills,
then go grocery shopping
and maybe even clean out the garage?"
This is probably not the way you would celebrate
(unless you are a super workaholic.)
Hopefully, celebrating with family and friends
would take precedence over cleaning out the garage.
The Sabbath is the time set aside by God
for His children to celebrate
their relationship with Him and each other.
In the fourth commandment
God asked Israel to take a day off.
There are really very few rules about it.
God simply says,"Don't work,
don't make your family work
and don't make other people work."
God even rested Himself on the seventh day!
Of course the church of the day
made many rules concerning the Sabbath.
When Jesus came to live among us,
He showed us how to celebrate the Sabbath.
He healed people and went to church.
When His disciples were reprimanded
for picking grain and eating it on the Sabbath,
Jesus made it clear that the Sabbath
was not an arbitrary legal requirement,
but meant to be a blessing.
He said Sabbath was made for man--
not man for the Sabbath.
If only Sabbath keepers
and non-Sabbath keepers
could both realize what He meant;
it would stop the legalization of the Sabbath,
and it would cause those who don't keep it
to realize the blessing
that God has planned for them.
If you had two hours to live who would you call?
Would you call your banker?
Your boss? Your car dealer?
The author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff,
Richard Carlson, once asked this question.
Then he wrote about it and concluded that he would call
for his wife and best friend first of all.
Sadly, his life ended abruptly from an aneurism.
But the message he left for all of us
is that since life on this planet is fragile,
so why waste it on small stuff that doesn't even matter?
We all live such short, shallow, earthly lives,
but God has bigger plans in store for us.
That's why He gave us the Sabbath
so we could keep in touch with what's really important!
