Friday Sept. 5, 2011 Commandments 5

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 you God.

Good Friday Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is indeed Friday, and that is the day we pray for workers in the fields of harvest for our Lord Jesus. Also today pray for Shelly who is going to be tested to see if she has cancer. She also has other health issues. Shelly and her husband drive truck together so while you are praying, pray for their safety in their travels. Also pray for the families in this little town we call Union Deposit as many of their homes just destroyed in the flood. These folks are living in a fire house and waiting for FEMA. Right now I would like to tell you that when FEMA was not on hand when Katrina hit it was all over the news and then President Bush is still catching Heck for it. But what about now? I will let it go at that. We head to the doctors with Dolores today, keep her in your prayers. She is doing well, but has a long road to go.

Commandments Day 5: 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 you God. (NIV)

Ok, folks, this one gets me in trouble all the time. For which day is the Sabbath Day? Look at your calendar and you see that Sunday is the first day of the week and Saturday is the seventh.

The Bible goes on to tell us this.

Exodus 20:10 - 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 manservant or your maidservant, nor your animals, not the alien within your gates. (NIV)

Ok, it is Sunday Morning and we (we=you and me) are sitting in church, it is nearing noon and we are thinking, is this preacher going to get done, and you watch your watch because you are heading to the local food place and you want to beat the line. While we Christians want to rest on the Sabbath, we sure EXPECT those who cook food, who wait tables, and clean tables, to be working on the Sabbath, oh gosh, we want them there. But the Bible tells us our manservant and maidservant should not work, and do they not fit that bill for they are for sure waiting on you. Oh, and the Bible tells us also that we should not work our animals, but even the Amish who do not work on Sunday, or work those big horses and mules, use their Sunday horse to pull that buggy to church.

Oh, and we sure need those hospital workers, and those who work in retirement and nursing homes, and they need done. Let me clear up some of this right now... Jesus worked on the Sabbath!

Luke 13:10 - On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, He called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity. 13 Then He put His hands on Her and immediately she straightened up and praised God. (NIV)

Ok, we just cleaned up one of the questions, those in the medical field and also the ones teaching Sunday School and the Pastor are also cleared, as Jesus was also teaching. But what about the rest, I mean the farmer must take care of His animals and the cows keep giving milk even on and the farmer must milk them and that is also in the Bible that the animals must be taken care of.

So here I go with my thinking on this. Some must work on Sundays, or Saturdays, which might be their Sabbath. Here is what I think we should do, if indeed we would have a job that makes us report on our Sabbath. First we should keep EVERY DAY HOLY, for are we not to live for Jesus and follow in His footsteps, are we not to curse or swear all the time. So I feel we need to live for Jesus and by doing that we are indeed keeping each day Holy... and then there is on the Seventh Day God rested from His work. Folks, rest your bodies one day of the week. But what about mowing grass on a day of rest? You know, to some people mowing grass is work, while to others, some like it. Being in your garden might be a hobby and you are resting while you tend the area. Or you might be resting your body while you are watching that football game or in my case watching the NASCAR guys go make left turns all day.

To wrap this one up, make each day Holy by living for Jesus, and rest your body, take a day off to rest your body, rest your brain... At one time I wrote messages seven days a week, my dear friend Tom Sansoni told me, Dan, even the Lord took a day off... so I stopped writing on the weekends except on some occasions I will write on a Saturday.

Dear Father in Heaven, We want to live for You daily, and we need Your help to do just that. And Lord help us understand this commandment more and more. Please look over our prayer lists, Lord, and honor our requests according to Your will. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Now go forth sharing your blessings and living for Jesus, have a great and wonderful weekend...

Love Ya, Pastor Dan.