A Sabbath Blessing

We have talked about a Sabbath blessing, but what exactly is it? Is it just a warm feeling, or is it something more than that? When God made those twenty-four hours sacred, what exactly did that do?

First of all, God tells us exactly why He gave us the Sabbath: “Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy.” (Ezekiel 20:12) These words are echoes of God’s instructions to the Israelites from the mountain: “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.” (Exodus 31:13) The word “holy” means to be set apart. God gave us the Sabbath so that we would know that God sets us apart. God believes we are special, and He sets us apart from the rest of creation for a purpose. He loves us. The Sabbath is a weekly reminder that it is God who protects and cares for us. It is God who created us. It is God who looked down on us and said, “It is good.”

When we join with God in His celebration of creation, God promises us a special blessing: “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 58:13-14) God wants to bless us, but there is a special blessing waiting for us when we join in God’s Sabbath celebration.

God takes the Sabbath seriously. It isn’t an option, or a suggestion, it’s part of our make-up. It’s part of our systems. He built it into our biological cycles. The Sabbath is part of God’s infinite, perfect kingdom, and when we celebrate Sabbath, we are taking a step closer to God. The closer we come to God, we can’t help but be blessed! But in order to celebrate the Sabbath in a way that will bring us closer to God, we have to do it God’s way. We have to take the Sabbath seriously, too.

Let us use the analogy of North America’s Christmas. When everyone is celebrating Christmas, Christmas doesn’t just descend on us. We must prepare for it! There is shopping to be done, decorating of the house, baking goodies and setting up the Christmas tree. We have to write our Christmas cards, plan the dinner and arrange what meal will be with whom. Even after the preparations are complete, if we sit in somber silence during the festivities, we will completely miss out on the Christmas blessing! We won’t enjoy ourselves. We won’t feel the warmth of family and friends coming together. If we refuse to join in with the Christmas carols, opt out of the gift exchange and sit by ourselves, we won’t enjoy the holidays in the least. It is the same with the Sabbath. We cannot enjoy the Sabbath blessing unless we join in on the celebration with God. We have to take the Sabbath as seriously as we take Christmas. That doesn’t mean that we must spend large amounts of money. We need to choose to enjoy the Sabbath. We need to choose to make it a delight. We can’t allow ourselves to miss out! When we do that, when we make it as pleasant and beautiful as possible, God’s blessings will be ours.