Purpose for the Sabbath

Yesterday I was listening to a recording of Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, and he made a point that really struck me. The sabbath was instituted by God for numerous reasons. It demanded that people take a day of rest each week, something we tend to dismiss in our society. It allows us the opportunity to break away from the cares that weigh us down and to focus more fully on our creator and provider. And, John Calvin's point, the sabbath points us to Christ.

Exodus 20:8 (NASB) "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy."

What does it mean for us to keep it holy? Nobody is meant to work (Ex. 20:10). Though we work for six days, there is a time for us to have faith for and accept God's provisions (Ex. 16:26, 29). Certainly the sabbath is meant to be a memorial to God's work of creation (Ex. 20:11). It is even more than that, however, being a sign of our need to rest from our works. We cannot earn our way to eternal life. Our strivings count as nothing, for we have rebelled against the sovereign God. Yet in our fallen state we try to work our way to good things, as if the good that we manage to do must simply outweigh the bad for us to be rewarded. It doesn't work that way. It never has. It never will. God is jealous and righteous and faithful. If that were the case, we would exult ourselves, determining that faith or love or obedience to God might be superfluous, becoming full of hubris (Eph. 2:8-9).

The sabbath is a way to share with others our understanding that we must rely on God. I need to humble myself before Him. Regularly I must acknowledge Him for His power, justice, righteousness, faithfulness, love. Observing the sabbath points me (and others as well) to Christ because I cease to do the works that I'd done before, and I rely on Him for all that I need. Every week we live our salvation symbolically as we acknowledge Him who alone has the power and the desire to save us.

I believe that this is an integral part of Jesus' meaning when he said, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working," in response to working on the sabbath (John 5:17). God can work on the sabbath, because He alone saves. We must give our strivings to God. They have always been in His control, but often we try to hold onto them, to accomplish things under our own power. May we repent of this sin and by faith seek obedience to Him in all things.