Encouragement for Those Who Aren’t Resting on the Sabbath
The Blessings of Sabbath
If I were in a position to speak to someone who is not observing the Sabbath, I think there might be three things that I’d want to share.
The first is that the Sabbath isn’t a tradition just observed in the church; it’s something that God has given us in his word. I would want to make that case so that they wouldn’t take it on my word, but they would take it from God’s word. I want them to follow what the word of God says.
The Sabbath as Rest and Hope for the People of God
Guy Prentiss Waters
In this addition to the Short Studies in Biblical Theology series, Guy Prentiss Waters provides a study of the Sabbath, from creation to consummation.
I think the second thing that I would want to share with them is the blessing of this day, that they need this day. God did not make them to run 24/7. God did make us to work, but he made us to worship and enjoy the rest of being in his presence. So yes, it’s a day that God calls us to observe in his word. It’s a day that we need to observe for our own good—soul and body.
And then the third thing that I’d want to share with them is that the Sabbath is an opportunity for us to be a blessing to others—to be in fellowship with the people of God, to encourage them, and to serve them. It’s a day of service—gathered in worship and then outside worship in fellowship with God’s people. And I wouldn’t want them to deprive others of the blessing they can be to the people of God on that day.
Guy Prentiss Waters is the author of The Sabbath as Rest and Hope for the People of God.
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