Friday, March 28, 2008

More on Sabbath Peace

One of Jesus' titles is 'Prince of Peace'. And when He was here on this earth He said that the Sabbath was made for 'man'. I have been coming to more and more of a conclusion that the Sabbath is to be the 'outside sign' of God's kind of peace.

Just 'keeping' a list of 'rules' on the Sabbath is not keeping it holy in my present understanding.

The Sabbath - the day when God rested, blessed and united His new human family with Himself in love - was to be 'reviewed', 'remembered' 'delighted in' and even 'celebrated' as a sign that Jesus, as Prince of Peace, is Lord, even of the Sabbath.

So, how does a person 'review'? One way is by looking at how God has led me during the past week and rejoicing in His loving compassion, divine grace and almighty power. I also believe it is good to review that my strength from the Lord is called 'JOY'.

How do I remember? In order to remember something there has to be something to remember. In order for the Sabbath to be remembered I must have already been 'exposed' to the Lord of the Sabbath who 'created' the Sabbath in the first place and I would have had to accepted the "Prince of Peace" as 'being my prince (sounds like the born again experience, to me).

The Bible talks about 'delighting' in the Sabbath - or at least calling the Sabbath a delight. That is difficult at best if I don't know the "Lord of the Sabbath" as a personal friend and 'Father'. As I have been partaking of the Joy of the Lord day by day, to have a whole day to focus on God's Joy is a big reason to delight.

And then that word 'celebrate'. Oh, in some people's vocabulary it is almost a taboo. In other peoples language it has been known to refer to activities that lend themselves to revelry and drunkeness (Mardi Gras as an example). But just as with most words, there is a counterfeit as well as a genuine meaning. God intends that His family should experience true forms of celebration. I am still learning about this area of my Christian experience so I won't elaborate very much right now.

Having said all of the above, may I invite you to join me in worshiping the Creator God of the Universe this Sabbath.

Peace be in your heart from the Creator of real peace

Bringer of Peace

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