Isaiah 58:13,14
Author: Steve Amato
Keywords: bible study,bible, isaiah

Translations: 简体中文 繁體中文

## Enjoy the Sabbath

Isaiah 58:13-14 If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

## Comment

A person's heart is revealed by how he spends his free time. There is debate in the Christian community as to the application of the laws of Sabbath, but whether enthusiastically or out of a sense of duty, God has called us to set apart time to devote ourselves to building up our relationship with God through fellowship, the Word, and prayer. The grace of becoming a Christian and having one's sins forgiven does not mean that God wants you to do whatever you feel like doing. Rather we are to walk as Christ walked. At times that will mean denying ourselves and taking up our cross, yes even daily this may occur as we struggle against the flesh, the world and the devil in submission to our Lord and Savior.

Part of the application of the Sabbath involves abstaining from doing as we please for a time, from going our own way, and from speaking idle words. These are to be replace with doing as God pleases, going God's way, and speaking God's Word. There's a certain reluctance implied here. For it is implied of those he is addressing that "as you please" is not as God pleases, or "your own way" is not God's ways, or your speech is not what God says. Rather one forces oneself to turn from one's own ways, preferences and enjoyment to devote oneself to God's ways and God's Word, in honor and submission to God. So not only is "I don't feel like it" not an excuse, it's actually to be expected in following God's ways.

However, as with many things, once you develop the habit you will start to enjoy it. Indeed despite the implied initial reluctance, the Sabbath is afterall considered a rest. What do you do to relax? Watch TV, play games, sports, read novels? As a person matures in Christ his rest, his relaxation, his enjoyment comes from doing as God's pleases, going where the Spirit leads, and speaking the Word of God. Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." John 4:34

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