Labor Day 9: Labor 1

"Six days you shall labor and do all your work."

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and it is Labor Day Monday, and yes I am working for the Lord this day for that is what we should do. Monday is the day we pray for our leaders so please, please pray for our President and for his safety, and also please pray for his soul, if indeed he is not born again... and I am not judging his soul here, but I don't see how anyone can be saved and want to kill babies and say it is ok for same sex marriage, and that is why I want us all to pray for him. I pray he also runs all things past God before bringing it to the public. Pray also for his family and all of our leaders and their families. Prayers also for our military, our veterans and our present men and women who are Laboring daily for our safety. It is also the day we pray for our police, firefighters, health care workers, ambulance drivers, and workers and those who fly the skies keeping us safe and healthy. Please also today pray for, oh and this will sound funny, pray for tow truck operators, as they put their lives on the line so often picking up wrecks along very busy roads. Prayers ongoing for Pastor Carol, Pastor Charles (wife Katherine), Pastor Tony (wife Ruby), the Saylors, (Don, Eleanor, Daniel, Robert, Sharon). Prayers also for Vicki and her family.

Labor 1: Exodus 20: 8 - Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work. (NIV)

So what day is the Sabbath? Saturday? Sunday? Do you know we could debate that for a long time. Most of us Christians might say it is Sunday, while others would say it is Saturday. If we look at the calendar, Saturday is the seventh day of the week. So today I want to put this in front of you.

First you will recall that Jesus healed on the Sabbath day, which means to me that it is ok to labor on the Sabbath if we are indeed working for the Lord, and it would be a labor of love. There are also many, many people who must work on those days, and if it is indeed a sin to be working on the day we call Sabbath, be it Saturday or Sunday, are we not causing someone else to sin when we go out to eat? Wops did I say that? How many people, after church on Sunday, go out to eat? Let me try and set it up a little different today... It is Labor Day, and I ask this question, how come on LABOR DAY, people take the day off from work? To me, Labor Day means we should Labor. Now before you all email me with the fact that this is wrong, I know it was set up to honor those working in the Labor Unions. Health workers, police, fire fighters, and our beloved military folks are just a few people who must work on the Sabbath. Retirement home workers, cooks, and all those who are waiting on us and even those in the stores like Wal-Mart. Those big stores, it would be nice if they closed on Sunday, but what about those Jewish owners who need to stay open on Saturday to compete with others? So what is the answer? Oh and how about all the pastors that must preach on the Sabbath? Wops, are they sinning by working on the Sabbath? Of course not, Jesus pointed that out to us when He healed on the Sabbath.

First, let's break down the scripture for today, let's see if we can work it to keep it Holy and still make it work today, and yes I think we can do it.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy: Why not keep each day holy, work hard for your dollars but do it without sin, without shame, and work for the Lord as we do it? Yes, I think we can honor God by keeping all days Holy. Is it ok to curse for six days and not on the Sabbath, NO, is it ok to talk about others six days and just not on the Sabbath? NO. Is it ok to rob a bank (thou shall not steal)? Is it ok to rob banks six days a week and not on the Sabbath? NO (beside that they are closed on the Sabbath or most are). I think you are getting my point, we are to live for God seven days a week, and what better to do than to keep each day holy.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Ok, why not labor for six days and then rest on one? Take one day and rest on it, do less labor. Wow, farmers cannot do even this, you must take care of your livestock, feed your pets. But you can back down. A dairy farmer must milk and feed and even clean the stalls and equipment seven days a week, but they do not need to work the fields bringing in the corn and hay and such. Do you see where I am coming from? We need to take a day off from our labor, and since most jobs take five days, we have a day to work around the house.

Now we need to get to church and get fueled up for the Lord, and if you are one that is working on Sunday Morning and cannot get to church, then find one that has a service on an evening. Do you know a lot of churches gave up Sunday evening services because not many people came? Should they have a service even if only one comes? Think about it. Remember that lost sheep, the one that we need to go after, the one I wrote about last week? Many times we in Carry The Light have gone to a retirement home to sing a concert. Sometimes there are only a few come in, as they must depend on the staff and maybe the staff is busy. We set up a lot of equipment for a concert and it is easy to think, why should we come back, but we must remember this, and Pamela, Dolores, and I must remind each other that we are there to serve God and He will put those in front of us who need to hear the word. It seems if any one of us or even two get down because of so few, the one remaining that day will say, remember why we are here... Amen. So we remember that one lost sheep and go get them. We keep each day holy and we try and rest our bodies one day a week. But never do we not labor for the Lord. It is a labor of love.

In closing this out today I want you to remember that Salvation through our Lord Jesus is available seven days a week. If we are saved and we happened to pass away on Sunday will we not still be taken to Heaven?

Dear Father in Heaven, thanks for teaching us to rest our bodies and minds, and thanks for also showing us through Jesus that it is ok to labor for You any day or every day. Thanks for the lesson today, for planting this on my heart. Lord, I know some will question it, but that is ok, for I want only to write what You put on my heart. Thanks for the message. Please look over our prayer requests and please as it is Your will honor those requests. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Go forth sharing your blessings and please do that seven days a week... and yes, rest your bodies and mind... and stay madly in love with Jesus. love ya, dan.