KEEPING THE DAY OF WORSHIP HOLY

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

This is what the Lord said to me:

“Go and stand at the Gate of the People, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem. Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates. This is what the Lord says:’”

“Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline. But if you are careful to obey Me,” declares the Lord, “and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. But if you do not obey Me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”

Jeremiah 17:19-27

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever heard of the “blue laws”?

These laws go back as early as the late 1700’s and were designed to restrict what could be done on Sundays as a way to ensure the day of worship was kept holy. This attitude was maintained for a long time after the implementation of the “blue laws” ranging even well through the 1900’s.

But then gradually, challenges to the laws came into play and slowly but surely restrictions on Sunday activities began to fade away. Stores were allowed to be open and sell items. Alcohol was allowed to be purchased. People began to make Sunday look like any other day of the week and if you look at Sundays, today, there is little you can’t do on that day, except get food at Chik Fil A who has continued to honor Sunday as a day of worship and rest. Looking at how well the chain is doing, it doesn’t seem to hurt their bottom line any being open just six days a week. And before I go much further, I do want to say that there are Christian churches like the Seventh Day Adventists who see the Sabbath (from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday) as their holy day of worship.

So how do you treat your Saturdays or Sundays, depending on which day you hold as your day of worship? Do you keep the day sacred or is it treated as just like every other day of the week?

Well, the matter of keeping a day of worship holy isn’t just a modern day phenomena. As we look back to the Old Testament and the Israelite worship of God, we see where they were expected to do it because God commanded them to do so. Look again at these words:

This is what the Lord said to me:

“Go and stand at the Gate of the People, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem. Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates.’”

“This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline. But if you are careful to obey Me,” declares the Lord, “and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. But if you do not obey Me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”  Jeremiah 17:19-27

Note here that there was one specific rule given to the people of God during Jeremiah’s time, a rule they were to adhere to during the Sabbath, their prescribed holy day.

They were to avoid carrying a load.

Go back to the basic commandments God gave their ancestors as they made their way across the wilderness to Canaan, the land God had promised to give them. God demanded that His people:

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11

This was the first time an order was extended by God regarding the Sabbath and the people were expected to comply. However, as our passage from Jeremiah conveys, the Israelites failed to keep that fundamental commandment. They were described by God as stiff-necked and unwilling to listen to God’s word. Even attempts at discipline failed to facilitate change as the people chose not to respond to the direction God wanted to lead them in. His judgment followed and as we fast forward to the days of Jeremiah, we know that God’s judgment came again. This is because the Israelites failed to keep the Sabbath holy and thus God did what He said He would do. He brought destruction on Judah and the beloved, holy city of Jerusalem.

One can’t think, it could have been so much different. All God’s people had to do was keep His designated day of worship holy.

With all this, how do you think God feels about the way we conduct ourselves today? Are we keeping our days of worship holy? Will we have to experience His judgment again to wake up and see that He is serious when He gives us commands, expecting us to be fully obedient and compliant to them?

Perhaps a day is coming where everything will be destroyed except for the Chik Fil A restaurants, a symbolic message from God to remind us He is just and will reward those who take His word seriously. Conversely, those who feel the brunt of His wrath will wish they wouldn’t have been stiff-necked and reluctant to listen to God because their outcome could have been much different.

All they would have had to do is to keep the day of worship holy.

It really isn’t as difficult as it may sound.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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