Exodus 31:12-17  ¹² The LORD said to Moses:  ¹³ You yourself are to speak to the Israelites: "You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you.  ¹⁴ You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people.  ¹⁵ Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death.  ¹⁶ Therefore the Israelites shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant.  ¹⁷ It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed."

            After attending the confirmation lockin last Thursday, I was reminded of two things.  A) I am getting to old to keep up with teenagers, and B) I need about another 5 hours sleep.  The theme of this lockin was the 10 Commandments.  We studied the relationships of the commandments (1-3: God and Humanity, 4: Us and Family, 5-10: Us and Neighbor), rewrote them into positive statements of protection, and also discussed how the 10 Commandments are a part of our lives today.

            Commandment 3 really stuck out to me for some reason.  Commandment 3 is “Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy”.  But how many of us do that on a weekly basis?  It is an amazing thing that God has built in for us a day of rest.  It is supposed to be a day that helps the body to rejuvenate and a day to worship God for all that he has done for us.  But it seems that more and more people are ignoring this day for selfish reasons.  We get caught up in doing other things, like work around the house.  When that happens, our bodies get fatigued, and the other days of the week seem to suffer. 

Sabbath is very important for us, and we need to be reminded that it is ok to not work for 1 day a week.  This comes from the person who works every Sunday morning, and then works in the afternoon and evening preparing these devotions, sermon, etc. as time allows.  This lockin though reminded me it is ok to put off some things that I normally do on my own Sabbath day.  As a matter of fact, it has led me to talk to Carrie about specifically taking an upcoming day that I have and making it simply about our family, relaxing, enjoying spending time with each other, and not having to worry about “work.”  I hope that is something you too can do.  Spend the time to refresh your body and refresh your soul, then give thanks to God for giving us this wonderful day of rest.

In our prayers this week:  Ann, Daniel, David, Brianna, Woody, Scott S., and Anna.  Also, we give thanks that Evelyn had good news from her tests results, and that Everett Lineberger is recovering well.

God’s Peace,