The LORD’s Day: His Ways

“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)

“‘My ways’ to refer to God’s will (Isa. 58:2)… It is a given that one may not do sinful things on the Sabbath, but God is saying here that those activities that are permissible the other six days become sinful when done on the Sabbath. The prophet is applying the prohibition of the fourth commandment, that we are not to work nor are we to work others… This means you should not be going into the office or working in the store on Sunday. You ought not to be doing homework or unnecessary housework. Nor should you cause others to work, so you should avoid eating out, going to the grocery store or the mall, or travelling extensively for business. One increasingly frequent violation is Christian business people and pastors who fly on Sundays, either to be home for work by Monday morning or ready to begin business in some other city. Is such travel using the day for God’s purposes?”

~ Joseph Pipa, The LORD’s Day, p.20

Today, let us pray that we may be more sensitive to the glory of God and the resurrection of Christ as we spend the Christian Sabbath. The Substance of the New Covenant is the resurrection of Christ. The New Covenant sabbath is the “already” of the New Creation. Dos and don’ts are really not the issues. Our motivation is celebrating the resurrection of Christ as our present rests on the LORD’s Day. If there is already a realization of the New Creation during the Sabbath, should we still find pleasure in other things?

Let us also pray for God’s regenerating power among those who have been hearing the gospel for so long yet continue to reject it. May this day be the day of their salvation.

Blessed LORD’s Day!