i love weekends
May 2, 2009
You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly . . . and it must be observed (Lev. 23:3).
READ: Deuteronomy 5:12-15
I work 44 hours each week, but I look forward to Saturday and Sunday. Two days of sleeping in a little later and not going to the office. How I love my weekends. Much of the world observes at least a one-day rest each week, with Sunday being a nonworking day in many countries. So, how did this concept of a day of rest come about?
In Deuteronomy 5, God commanded His people to take a day off from their work for a time of rest and renewal, reflection, and worship (vv.12-14). This day of rest is set in the context of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt (v.15). The Jews had been slaves in Egypt for 430 years, and their toil was no 9-to-5 job. Slaves don’t have rights. It was 24/7 for four-plus centuries of hard labor. Imagine how a day of rest would have felt to them!
In Singapore, where I live, there are more than 100,000 migrant workers who work as domestic helpers. Their employment contracts don’t include a “day of rest” benefit. But they should, for God said, “On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you . . . your male and female servants . . . . All your male and female servants must rest as you do” (v.14).
More than just a time for a little R&R, the Sabbath is also a picture of our salvation. The Sabbath principle is no work. No work has to be done because our salvation is provided by God’s grace. It is a work of grace, a work that has been accomplished by Christ alone.
We rest on the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Speaking of this, the writer of Hebrews affirmed, “Only we who believe can enter His rest” (Hebrews 4:3). —K.T. Sim
How do you live out the Sabbath principle? What does God’s grace mean to you?
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