A Day of Dedication

Unlike the other six days of the week, God made the Sabbath day a sacred day. "So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation" (Genesis 2:3). It is as if God put his own signature on this day, calling it his day.

God commands his people to remember the Sabbath and calls this day of rest "a Sabbath unto the Lord your God." While God made the Sabbath for man, we also have an obligation to God to set aside this day as the Lord's day. We are to rest on this day just as God did. Honoring this day is honoring God.

Because the Sabbath belongs to the Lord our God, we must keep this special day unto him, doing what pleases him. God himself instructs us the right way to observe this day: "turn back your foot from the sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable... honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly" (Isaiah 58:13).Sounds like a lot of rules? Not really. It is a day of "delight," a happy day. By following God's commandment, we can think about how great and loving God is, and how special we are in his sight. We can make every Sabbath meaningful to us if we learn to put aside our own priorities and renew our commitment to our dear Heavenly Father. So why not look at the Sabbath as spending some "quality time" with our Father?