October 24 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

It's very clear what this commandment meant to Israel: the people were not supposed to do any work on the seventh day, which was called the Sabbath, the day of rest.

The reasons given in Exodus and Deuteronomy are several. God rested on the seventh day after six days of creation activity. The animals, the servants, and the slaves had to have a day of rest. The Sabbath was also a sign of the covenant God made with his people after the exodus. People who did not rest on the Sabbath day were placing themselves outside the covenant people. That's why violators of this commandment were executed.

It's much more difficult to say what this commandment means for the people of God under the new covenant. Christians are very much divided on this question, and the New Testament sheds little light on the issue. What we do know is that Christians began to gather for worship on the first day of the week almost immediately after the resurrection of Jesus. No wonder. That's when their life began! But Christian leaders did not connect the Christian Sunday and the Jewish Sabbath until many centuries later.

Still, there is common ground on which all Christians can agree.

First, we must guard our life so that it does not become a continuous "workathon." And this responsibility does not apply only to our personal life but to society as a whole. We ought to devote at least one day to the worship of God and to works of mercy, fellowship, recreation, and education.

Second, our participation in the gathering of the church of Jesus Christ is not optional but mandatory. We need it—not merely to survive but to conquer. Such gatherings and opportunities for worship need not be limited to Sundays—in fact, they should not be—but they are most appropriate on the Lord's day.

REFLECTIONS

How do you keep the fourth commandment?

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.