Sabbath Today

We are clearly no longer living under Old Testament rule and law.  Jesus came and fulfilled the law.  So what does Sabbath look like for us today?  I believe first and foremost we should continue to take a day of rest from our usual work and activity AND it should involve worship.  The point of the Sabbath is to “stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another” [1]  Resting in the presence of the Lord through worship, fellowship, prayer and communion is primarily what a Sabbath should look like.  The irony is that we don’t stop working on the Sabbath… Things still need to be done (at home and in the church).  Meals need to be cooked, dishes washed, lawns mowed… Children need to be led during the Sunday School hour, babies need to be watched in the Nursery, music needs to be played etc.  These all shouldn’t be a burden and I get that sometimes it feels like they DO become burdensome.  When they do start to feel burdensome we are to cast that burden on to God and he will give you the strength and joy you need to complete it for his glory.   
Tim Keller sums up quite nicely what Sabbath means today, “Only Jesus offers you a 'finished work' to rest in. In fact, the very definition of a Christian is not just someone who admires Jesus, emulates Jesus, or obeys Jesus. A Christian is someone who "rests in his finished work" instead of your own. Remember, God was only able to rest in Gen 2:1-3 because his work was finished. A Christian is someone who knows that it would be quite all right if he or she died tonight. You've already finished your work--everything that actually has to happen within your life-time has happened. The rest is gravy, icing. Gravy and icing is quite tasty, of course--but not absolutely necessary.”[2]  Because of Jesus essentially our work is finished.  Yes, we labor and toil day after day but our final rest… our eternal rest is found in Jesus and I can rest in that.


[1] Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible commentary (Ge 2:1). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.
[2] Keller, Timothy, (2010). The Gospel In Life . Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing.