Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God that we do not
despise preaching and his Word, but regard it
as holy and gladly hear and learn it.
In the Old Testament, God wanted his people to set aside the last day of the week, Saturday, as the holy day of rest and worship. We see this many times, such as when he says, “For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord” (Exodus 35:2). This provided God’s people and their servants and animals with a regular day of rest for their bodies and a day for spiritual renewal for their souls.
Today, we are no longer subject to the Saturday regulation. Paul says:
God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness [the written code], which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. (Colossians 2:13-14, 16-17, emphasis added).
Being freed from the law of worshiping on a certain day (Saturday) does not release us from God’s desire for us to worship him. So Christians quickly set aside a new worship day, Sunday, in memory of Christ’s resurrection on a Sunday (Revelation 1:10). We aren’t obligated to use Sunday, but most of do in memory of Easter. We will want to worship on some day each week, setting aside time for worship and hearing God’s word. The sin against against the third commandment occurs when people despise God’s worship or God’s word, as when people deny that they have a need to worship or deny that the Bible is the true, inerrant and inspired word of God.
It is the word of God itself that leads us to our Savior, and reminds us that even sins against this commandment are forgiven in Jesus. One of our greatest guides to appreciating Scripture is Psalm 119, the longest chapter of the Bible, which rejoices and praises God for every aspect of his word.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103)
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn’s father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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