Guarding My Sabbath

When I think about Sunday, I think of rest.  I think of taking a nap, ceasing from work, and having time with the family.  I think of all of the things that I should not do and should not HAVE to do.  It often irritates me, if dishes need to be done or a load of laundry needs to be cared for.  I don't want to do those things on Sunday!  Partly, because of how I was raised but more so because I deserve at least one day of rest!  Right?!  I try to guard my Sunday's, though I often find something that is threatening my Sabbath - laundry, dishes, picking up the living room, or . . . . .

Last week, I was reading in Nehemiah.  In Chapter 13, Nehemiah is dealing with people threatening the Sabbath rest.  These people wanted to come to Jerusalem and continue their work and sell their goods.  This was upsetting to Nehemiah because the Sabbath was not being set apart.  He confronted the nobles of Judah and told them to knock it off!  Had they not learned anything from their forefathers who had made this same mistake?  God had brought calamity on the city and here they were repeating history and stirring up more wrath against Israel.  Nehemiah ordered for the doors of the city to be closed until the Sabbath was over and he stationed guards at the gates so that no loads could be brought into the city.  A couple of times, some of the merchants spent the night outside of Jerusalem waiting for the first break of dawn on the first day of the week to commence their work.  Nehemiah threatened them.  "I will lay hands on you, if you ever do this again!"  He guarded the gates furiously. 

As I read this, I thought, "what if we were just like Nehemiah and worked hard to follow all the Sabbath regulations as well as all of the regulations of the Bible?  How would our lives be different?  If we did it right, what a difference there would be in our lives!  We would be blessed and at rest!"  I quickly realized this was a works mentality.  These kinds of  thoughts will only take me back to trying to be obedient enough to gain the blessing of God.  And that's not right.  That's not what I have been learning.  Plus, it wouldn't take me long to fail one of the regulations.  Where would that leave me?  Unblessed?  This line of thinking jumbles up the point of the Sabbath.  It turns the Sabbath into more work, to try not to work, in order to somehow obtain rest. It is missing the point all together.

Through Jesus' death on the cross and through His Resurrection , I have been offered a Sabbath rest which I have obtained through belief and faith in Jesus Christ.  This rest has been given to me so that I may rest from my work.  (Hebrews 4:9-11)  Which is, my striving to be perfect enough, good enough, and do enough to gain favor with God.  This Sabbath is not just about a day of the week in which I try to do my best to do nothing.  It is a daily Sabbath and a daily rest found only in Christ.  And just as Nehemiah guarded the gates of Jerusalem from merchants desiring to come in and desecrate the Sabbath rest, so I must also guard the gates of my Sabbath . . . . daily. 

Since I have read this, God has continued to bring this thought back to me.  How am I guarding my Sabbath?  A thought, a wrong attitude, circumstances can so easily rob me of my Sabbath.  They barge into my heart and my mind causing restlessness, frustration, anger, annoyance all very much disturbing my rest.  How quick am I to confront these "merchants" that desire to march through the gates of my heart?  Their wagons loaded down with a burden that I do not wish to purchase . . . desecrating the rest, the Sabbath that has been given to me by Jesus.  How quickly do I say to them, "get out of here and if you come back again, I will lay hands on you!" 

1 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have DIVINE POWER to DEMOLISH STRONGHOLDS.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we TAKE CAPTIVE EVERY THOUGHT  to make it obedient to Christ."

and

Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things."

I desire to guard the gates of my heart.  To not allow anything in that will distract from my Sabbath rest in Christ.  It is the question I ask myself, "does this threaten my Sabbath?"  If the answer is yes, then I will lay hands on it, take it captive, and make it obedient to Christ.