Sabbath Archives - Good Morning Girls

Below is a picture of my mom as a little girl with her brothers wearing their Sunday best. Life was different back in the 50′s. In Ohio, there was a Blue Law that required stores and most places of work and business to be closed. This made it possible for most people to be in church.

My father says almost everyone went to church. This social expectation even crossed into the classroom. My father recalls his public school 5th grade teacher asking on Monday mornings who went to church and they had to raise their hands. His family sometimes missed and he was a little embarrassed he couldn’t raise his hand – could you imagine that now in our schools?

My grandmother usually spent her Saturdays preparing for her Sunday day of rest. This meant that she cooked her Saturday meals (usually simple hamburgers) plus her Sunday meal (usually a roast and sheet cake). After attending church on Sundays, she merely reheated the prepared food and served it.

Following the meal they spent time with friends and relatives. They would talk and visit all afternoon and then return back to Sunday evening church. My father’s family would often go on a Sunday drive to look at the countryside or skip rocks in a lake.

Sunday dress was very different. Men would not even consider going to church without a suit jacket and tie. Even the little boys (as pictured above) wore suit coats. And on 90+ degree days, in churches with no air-conditioning, the men just sat there sweating. The women also wore their best dresses and shoes and hats too.

I remember my mother telling me about a time when she was sad on a Sunday because her father would not allow her to cut out her paper dolls. He said that cutting was work –and so she’d be sinning on Sunday to play in that manner.

And so that brings us to today’s passage. Jesus broke the Sabbath day rest…let’s see what happens.

(if you cannot view this video – click here to view it)

5 points we can take from Exodus 20:8-11 about the Sabbath:

1. Remember the Sabbath Day – Sabbath means rest. Remember that you are human – not a machine – do not neglect rest. God WANTS you to rest.

2. Keep it holy – our day of rest is not for going boating and to amusement parks –it’s to be a holy day. Remember to go to church.

3. Work 6 days and then rest 1 – in the 10 commandments God does not designate which day is to be the day of rest. It only gives us the pattern of working 6 days and resting 1. In the Old Testament the Sabbath fell on Saturday. Then in Acts, whe see the Christian church meeting on the first day of the week for communion – which would have been Sunday.

4. We are not to make others work on the Sabbath – the commandment states that our sons and daughters, servants and oxen are also not to work.

5. This is all based on God’s example in creation – God created the earth and everything on it in 6 days and then he blessed the 7th day, called it holy and rested. He didn’t rest because he was tired. He rested because He was setting the example that we are to follow. Work 6 days and then on the 7th – call it holy, be blessed and rest.

In today’s passage, Jesus did not abolish the Sabbath – he merely put his foot down against legalism and rules and regulations that are heartless. Some professions such as doctors or police will have to work on Sundays –we are not to judge. We will be tempted to try to put rules on this special day – like no cutting paper dolls or no cooking (note today’s passage when Jesus rubbed the kernals to eat and the Pharisees attacked him ) –but that misses the heart of what God meant in creation for our Sabbath rest to be.

The Sabbath rest is a gift. We must humble ourselves and acknowledge that we need it. We need a day to worship. We need a day to rest. We need a day where there’s time for extended prayer and Bible reading. Put your feet up and read a good spiritual book –guilt free friends!!!! And trust –we must trust that the work load we have – God will help us accomplish in the 6 days we’ve been given to work.

**Chime In: How do you and your family practice the Sabbath rest? Is this a challenge for you?

Walk with the King,