Things to do on God’s Holy Sabbath

Things to Do on God’s Holy Sabbath

“And he saith unto them, ‘Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?’ But they held their peace” Mark 3:4.“And he said unto them, ‘what man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days’ Matthew 12:11, 12.

These two passages were replaying in my mind yesterday afternoon after a friend asked me, “Why do you go to church on Saturday?” Then he asked, “Where in the bible does it talk about going to church on Saturday?” These two questions I was often asked while growing up but I couldn’t answer correctly. My “go to” passage was always Exodus 20:8-11, which is the fourth commandment of ten God had written with his finger on tables of stone (See Exodus 20:8-11, Exodus 32: 12-18 and Deuteronomy 9:9-11). I would answer the question to show I knew things from the bible, but I didn’t always glorify God the way I did it.

So I prayed to myself, “Lord I want to answer this correctly. Please give me your answer.” So I told my friend I would write down in my notebook all of the passages in the bible that mention the Sabbath, in the Old and New Testament. As I was writing these passages some of my friends from church gave him a track and a DVD, so I never ended up giving him the sheet of paper. However, Matthew 12:1-12 and Mark 2:27- Mark 3:5, were two major passages that really stuck out in my mind.

You see, yesterday was the Sabbath, and I met this friend through the homeless ministry I joined called “My Brother’s Keeper.” We, the group of young adults ranging from ages 12-28, were singing Christian songs, praying, reading the bible, and sharing out breakfast with people who have little to no way of providing for themselves. I became friends with some of these people. They love to see people still care about them, since some of them gave up hope and stop caring about themselves as individuals.

Some of these friends come to church with us, so we give them a ride and spend the rest of the day with them. After church, my church friends participate with a ministry called “Hospital Ministry.” We divided the floors among ourselves in order to sing Christian songs of joy, comfort, and Godly reassurance, in each patient’s room as well as leave them with a track and/or DVD after we prayed for them. One of our homeless friends actually joined us in the hospital ministry and he absolutely loved it. Watching him beam with enthusiasm made me smile in my heart and it was such a blessing. The entire Sabbath was filled with blessings.

So what can someone do on Sabbath? As Christians, we must follow Jesus Christ and all of his examples. He pointed out that on Sabbath you must RECEIVE a blessing from the Holy Spirit and BE a blessing to someone else. Here are some ideas of things to do on the Sabbath:
• Feed the homeless; spend time talking and encouraging them in the Lord while share God’s love through song, prayer and bible study
• Visit the Sick; in hospitals and home health care spend time encouraging the patients in the Lord while share God’s love through song, prayer and bible study share God’s love through song, prayer and bible study
• Visit the elderly; share God’s love through song, prayer and bible study
• Visit your neighbors or people in your community; share God’s love through song, prayer and bible study
• Visit a park; behold God’s creation while sharing God’s love with others through song, prayer and bible study
• Go hiking in the mountains; behold God’s creation while sharing God’s love through song, prayer and bible study
• Go to church with like-minded believers (most important)
• And many more

The whole purpose of the Sabbath is to be with God AND with other people. Jesus said, “And he said unto them, ‘The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath’” Mark 2:27-28. By sharing God’s love EVEN MORE on the Sabbath allows us to receive the extra special Sabbath day’s blessing. Jesus says, “Come unto me and I will give you rest.” (See Matthew 11:28-30) The Sabbath is the day to rest from our secular labors and to focus all our work and energy for the will of God. So now when you read the fourth commandment, think of it this way.

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 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: 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” Exodus 20:8-11.

Tanisha

While facing spiritual battles (i.e academic failures, bad influences, rumors, lies and deceit, loss of friends, financial difficulties, and many more problems) God, in His mercy, showed me the door to escape and He took me through that door. Since then, I earnestly and frequently pray and read the escape manual (aka the bible), so I don't re-enter that door of despair.

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