Exodus 20: 8 -11

I once heard a pastor preaching in a Sunday-keeping church. He was making light of the Sabbath and of the fourth commandment. This is what he said:
"One of my friends asked me 'why don't you worship on the Sabbath?' I said 'I do worship on the Sabbath. And I also worship on Sunday. And I worship on Monday. And I worship on Tuesday. And... " so on and so forth. The congregation was very amused by his clever answer. But it led me to think that the fourth commandment is about much more than just worshipping. Let's take a look at it as it is found in the book of Exodus, Chapter 20: 8 -11.
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord yor God.
In it you shall do no work: you nor your son, nor your daughter,
nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle,
nor your stranger who is within your gates.
For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,
the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.
Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

The text quoted above is from the New King James version. At least in this version the word worship is not even mentioned at all in connection with the Sabbath day. I don't know exactly how and when it occurred, but the Sabbath day came to be connected with going to the temple (later the church) and holding worship services. As I read it in this passage of Exodus, the Sabbath day is all about rest. It is about keeping the day holy and not polluting it with our daily activities.
Then I think about the pastor who was making light of it and I realize how mistaken he was. It seems obvious to me that that poor pastor had not read this commandment closely. He ignored God's first instruction to keep the day holy. Then he also ignored God's intructions for the pastor personally to abstain from work. Plus he ignored God's instructions to make sure that his son, daughter, his assisstant and his secretary also abstain from work. The pastor chose to focus his attention only on "worship," which is not even part of God's intructions for the Sabbath day (at least not on this particular version quoted above).
This pastor is not alone. There are millions of others who have paid very little attention to this commandment. What makes this all the more intriguing is the curious detail that the fourth commandment is the only one of all Ten Commandments that begins with the instruction: "REMEMBER." Yes! The one that we were instructed to remember is the one that most people have forgotten. Isn't that interesting?

I invite you to share with me your thoughts on this matter.
Do you keep the Sabbath? Why? or Why not?

God Bless You,

The moderator.