Do you know the story of creation? You do? Great! Then you know that God created everything in six days. He made the sky, the seas, the sun, the moon, the trees, the grass. He made the animals, He made us, and as if that was not enough, He gave us a special gift on the seventh day. Do you know what the gift is? It is the gift of rest. It is the gift of a special day each week when you don’t have to work or go to school. It is a day to just be with Him and enjoy everything He made, including your family and friends. He called His special gift to us the Sabbath. In fact, the Bible tells us that on the very first seventh day, God rested! Do you think He was tired? No, I don’t think so either. I don’t think God ever gets tired. I think He rested to show us how important it is for us to rest. I think He rested on the Sabbath as an example for us, to show us how much He wants us to rest and to have time to be with Him.
The Sabbath was the first thing God called Holy. Have you ever wondered what the word Holy means? Well I have, so I looked it up. Holy means something that is set apart for a special use. Only God can make something Holy. He made the Sabbath to be set apart for us.
Lots of people think that the Sabbath is only a Jewish thing. But it’s a God thing, and it’s for all people. In the Old Testament God said that the Sabbath is also for the foreigner and the stranger. (Isa. 56:6,7) And in the New Testament Jesus says, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mk. 2:27) God began His Sabbath plan in the Garden of Eden; when Jesus came to earth He kept God’s Sabbath plan; and God wants us to keep it too. It is a forever plan.
The Jewish people are an important part of God’s forever plan. Thousands of years ago, God gave a man named Abraham a very special promise. God said to Abraham “ All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” (Gen.12:3) One of the blessings that came from Abraham was that he was the very first Jewish man, and Jesus was one of Abraham’s descendants. That makes Jesus Jewish. Did you know Jesus was Jewish?
There is another thing I think about when I think about the Sabbath. I think it is a picture of Jesus. Because if you believe Jesus died for you, and ask Him to forgive your sins, He will. So you can rest. You don’t have to worry about your mistakes any more. Every single day of the week you can feel safe because Jesus says He will never leave you and He will always be with you.
Now lots of people think Sunday, when everyone goes to church, is the Sabbath. The truth is that Sunday is the first day of the week, and the Sabbath it the last. Do you want to know how I know for sure? I know it from what the Bible says in Mt. 28:1, “Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.”
Most people go to Church on Sunday. I think that is a great day to go to church and celebrate with your church family. I think the Sabbath is a great day to spend time with the Lord, and celebrate with him and your family and friends.
Can you tell me what some of the Ten Commandments are? Do you think they are important to God? I do too! Do you know that the fourth Commandment says we are to “remember the Sabbath day” and keep it as a special day for God? So God is really serious about us keeping the Sabbath—He made it one of His Ten Commandments.
When we keep the Sabbath day we start it on Friday night and it goes to Saturday night. When we celebrate the Sabbath, we can think about God, and all that He created, and about His great love for us. And we can think about how Jesus showed us His awesome love for us by dying on the cross. Did you know that God has given special promises for those who keep the Sabbath? And in Isa. 58:13,14 it says that everyone who sets the Sabbath apart as a special day to honor the LORD will be happy and have a good time with God. And it says God “will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth” and you also get to share all the promises that God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Don’t you think these are really good reasons to have a party with God every week? I do too! So let’s start celebrating now!