Still, I've got to wonder. Is it a Christian problem?
Isaiah wrote, quoting God,
"If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isa 58:13-14)Now, I know we'd like to say that "That's the Old Testament and doesn't pertain to us," but that's a really dangerous position to take. Didn't Jesus say His Word would not pass away (Matt 5:18)? Most Christians agree that the Sabbath is still in effect, just moved for Christians to "the Lord's Day", the Sunday that commemorates Christ's Resurrection. Most of us are happy with that. (There are rare exceptions.) Still, do we actually honor the Sabbath? Not generally. We used to a lot in earlier times. Most businesses were closed on Sundays. Most of society didn't work on Sundays. You know, "Honor the Sabbath." As a society we at least didn't work. That shifted and even the conservative Christians shifted with it until we give mere lip service to "Honor the Sabbath and keep it holy" these days. On what basis? We're not clear.
In the text from Isaiah, God says that His people should not seek their own pleasure or talk idly on the Sabbath. Really? I don't know very many Christians today, regardless of how serious a student of Scripture or how devout a follower of Christ, who would say that was necessary. Maybe in the Reformation time, but not today. No, no, we're much more enlightened. Aren't we? Well, we are, but I'm not at all sure on what basis we're "enlightened." Because society doesn't honor God? Not a particularly good argument, is it?
You have to ask yourself, "Why don't I honor the Sabbath like Scripture says to?" Maybe there is an answer. I'm trying to figure it out. And if we're supposed to avoid seeking our own pleasure and idle talk on Sundays, what are we supposed to do? What is permitted? You see, I don't have all the answers here. Hey, I told you I watched the Super Bowl with some fellow believers. I just find myself disturbed by the questions.
2 comments:
I'm not even sure how that would work. I love my wife more than anything on Earth. But if I were asked to talk about her all day for one day, I'd be at a lose. Add one day a week? Yes, God is far more magnificent and complex than my wife, but we humans, even the best of us, have attention spans too short to last an entire day. Maybe it is asking us to strive for that, knowing we'll miss the mark?
Well, now, "talking idly" doesn't require that it is only "at God". I mean, spending a Sunday in worship and the Word and maybe evangelism or something wouldn't be "talking idly". On the other hand, even going to church on a Sunday I find sufficient "talking idly" going on at some point. I do wonder what God meant by that.
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