Six Reasons Why Keeping the Sabbath Matters

In my fifth and final column on the greatest guide ever devised for a good world — the Ten Commandments — I offer my readers what may well be the best single thing you can do (that you are probably not doing now) to improve the quality of your life, your family’s life, and ultimately the life of our society.

Many people, even among those who revere the Ten Commandments, do not think that the Fourth Commandment, the Sabbath Day, is particularly important, let alone binding.

Once you understand it, however, you will recognize how both life-changing and world-changing it is.

The Fourth Commandment reads: “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.”

First, it uniquely elevated the human being. For nearly all of human history, life consisted overwhelmingly of work. In effect, humans were beasts of burden. This commandment changed all that by insisting that people cease working one day out of seven.

Second, no matter how materially poor we may be, at least on the Sabbath Day, we are not just material beings. We are elevated. Recall that the commandment tells us to keep the day holy, not merely not to work. It is enough for animals not to work; we are to make the day holy. No matter what our circumstances, we must remind ourselves at least one day a week that we are sacred beings; we have a soul to feed, not just a body.

Third, more than any other commandment, the Fourth Commandment reminds people that they are meant to be free. As the second version of the Commandment, the one summarized by Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy, states, “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt.” In other words, remember that slaves cannot have a Sabbath; only free men and women can.

In light of this, in the Biblical view, unless it is necessary for survival, people who choose to work seven days a week are essentially slaves – slaves to work or perhaps to money, but slaves nonetheless. The millionaire who works seven days a week is simply a rich slave.

Fourth, while the Bible could not universally abolish slavery, the Sabbath commandment greatly humanized that terrible institution and ultimately helped make slavery impossible. Prior to the Ten Commandments, by definition a slave owner was under no obligation to allow a slave to ever rest, let alone to rest one day every week. Yet that is exactly what the Fourth Commandment commanded. Even a slave has fundamental human rights, one of them being a Sabbath day of rest. Therefore a slave is a human being, too.

Fifth, the Sabbath almost singlehandedly creates and strengthens family ties and friendships. When a person takes off from work one day every week, that day almost inevitably becomes a day spent with other people — namely, family and/or friends. It has similar positive effects on marriages. Ask anyone married to a workaholic how good it would be for his or her marriage if the workaholic would not work for a day each week, and you can appreciate the power of the Sabbath Day.

There are those who argue that without God commanding a Sabbath, people could surely decide on their own to stop working a day each week and spend the day with their spouse, family, and friends. But the truth is that almost no one does. There will almost always be some reason not to take that day off — an important work project, housework, shopping, etc.

Sixth, the Sabbath commandment granted animals dignity. Even one’s animals had to rest one day a week. It is, to the best of our knowledge, the first national law in history on behalf of animals. And its benefits to animals surely went beyond a mandatory day of rest for them. People who felt divinely obligated to give their animals a day of rest were much less likely to treat their animals cruelly any day of the week.

All six of these life-changing and society-changing benefits regarding the Sabbath are available to anyone. You don’t have to be a Jew, a Christian, or even a believer in God to derive all these benefits — though, for reasons noted, the reality is that those who believe in the God of the Ten Commandments are the ones who have kept the Sabbath alive.

The God factor plays another role in the Sabbath. Just as faith in God brings people to the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath brings people to faith in God. In our secularized modern societies, very few activities bring people to a relationship with God as effectively as does devoting a day each week to the spiritual, not just the material.

That’s why the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments. No wonder that those who have it in their lives are often happier, with richer family lives, more serenity, a community of friends, and, yes, even better health.

— Dennis Prager is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and columnist. His most recent book is Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph. He is the founder of Prager University

Did you celebrate december 25?
How about new years?

I suggest most Christians celebrated those...

And those are not holy at all...in fact, they are counterfeit holy days..

So in one side of the mouth people say His holy days are done away with but with the other side of their face, they celebrate man made holy days..

Considering the Messiah of Israel was born on a New Moon Day,circumcised on a weekly Sabbath, dedicated in the temple on an annual Sabbath, laid His life down on a Feast, laid in the tomb and rested on a weekly and annual Feast Day Sabbath and was raised on a Feast Day has no meaning when compared to Rome’s lies of December 25, Good Friday and easter Sunday..

Christendom worships Rome’s counterfeit when they could worship genuine Truth..

But holy days like December 25, good Friday and easter are just too ingrained to be rejected as false..

Again,which side are you on?

Rome’s side is the losing side...

Keep your feast days and new moons and sabbath days for your salvation. As the bald preacher on AMAZING FACTS said years ago...”YOU are saved by grace, IF you keep the sabbath”.
In other words, you get Unmerited favor by working for it!

Galatians:
16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the LAW, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the LAW: for by the works of the law SHALL NO FLESH BE JUSTIFIED.

21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the LAW, then Christ is dead in vain.

And what is the law?

ROMANS 7:
7 What shall we say then? Is the LAW sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

Ephesians: 2:
8 For by GRACE are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

As for me and my house...

“My Hope is Built on Nothing Less”
by Edward Mote, 1797-1874

1. My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.

It isn’t about following the Law for salvation.. it is about testing and proving all things and holding fast to that which is good. We are saved by grace through faith... and then I realized my faith was at its core, based on Rome’s lies.. and at the same time I was debating them on their false teachings and worship... talk about hypocritical...

A testing of their Mary and her lies the catholic church publishea allowed me to see just how much Rome has influence on all Christians, including me.

The Messiah of Israel born on December 25 is a false teaching.

The Messiah of Israel dying for our sins on good Friday and being raised on easter Sunday, the third day, is a false gospel.
False gospel derived from Rome.. very close to the genuine... but false. A counterfeit. A fake.

What one’s faith and trust in may very well be a deceitful counterfeit and considering the study of Hebrew and the number six hundred three score and six in that Hebrew language gives even more evidence that would be inconvenient to Christendom.

So, do we believe and worship from Rome’s false gospel or the gospel Paul preached according to scripture?

They are different... and it is very subtle.. exactly what we would expect from the father of all lies and a master counterfeiter.

If December 25, good Friday and easter Sunday are truth and holy to you (as a non answer that you gave to my questions would indicate), you are buying Rome’s gospel.
And Rome’s gospel is false...and His Word confirms it because according to scripture He didn’t die for our sins on Good Friday..
Nor was He raised on easter Sunday..

Christians just go with those as being substitutes for Truth..and evil will be cut off by His Truth.

But again, Rome has deemed today a holy day... and most Christians agree...

Yet today is His 5th day of the week.a work day based on His calendar found in His Word.

Most of christendom won’t understand their faith is in traditions of men and not scripture..and their worship, as Messiah says, is vain.. I didn’t... it took testing and proving ALL things..
Exactly what His Word calls us to do..

And given the warnings about false gospels, false teachers and false messiahs that His Word gives, we should be on alert for just that..

Especially with the warnings of what happens if one follows the unholy trinity in Revelation 13..

When I realized I had my faith in the counterfeits that Rome peddles, it made me want to know Truth..

May He lead you to His Truth and away from counterfeits..

Monopoly money is not mistaken for real money.. it is only the counterfeits that look and feel like the genuine that fools people..

And that is why Satan is sometimes called the master counterfeiter..
And why deception is his game plan..

Rome’s lies are sinking sand... and Rome is not the only one of Satan’s vessel..Islam being a vessel.. Judaism being a vessel.. and secular humanism, etc..

Maybe the Jesus you have your faith in is the ultimate ‘in place of’ messiah... just exactly what ‘anti’ can mean if you have a concordancd ( it can also mean substitute and ‘in place of’)

Rome’s mary and testing her lies with His Word confirmed that she doesn’t point to truth.. and that lying prophetess pointed to jesus.. that is a tough one to square how a lying spirit would point to Truth..
Answer, she doesn’t,.. and the journey to Truth would be uncomfortable for people who buy Rome’s version or story..

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