Pursuing Holiness by Keeping God’s Sabbath

“Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (I Peter 1:16).

Brethren, there is no denying that the God whom we serve is Holy and whoever would like to follow Him must pursue holiness as well. When we think of becoming holy, we think of keeping ourselves unspotted from the world, to be lights of the world, to be separated from the ways of this world. We think about overcoming our sinful desires and becoming like God.

But how many of us ever thought that keeping God’s Sabbath can make us holy? Have you realized the important role the Sabbath plays in our pursuit of holiness? Have we lost sight of the proper way of keeping the Sabbath holy?

I want us to seriously think about how we are keeping the Sabbath. Do we really make this day holy as what God has commanded us? Or have we lost sight of what it really means to keep God’s Sabbath holy? Has this day merely became a day of comfort and convenience?

God made the Sabbath holy

Genesis 2:1-3 tells us:

On the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He RESTED on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

The word sanctified here means consecrated, hallowed, dedicated, and divinely chosen to be holy. Exodus 20:11 added, “Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”

Now, here’s something that we should all remember; God ALONE has the power to make things holy. When he says that the seventh day is HOLY, He is not joking. It is a serious matter to God. By saying that the Sabbath is holy, God is telling us that this day is SACRED and PURE.

At this point, there is only one of two things that you can do to the Sabbath: you either keep it holy or profane it.

Why God sanctified the Sabbath?

The answer is found in Exodus 31:13.

“Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a SIGN between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.”

The Sabbath was sanctified by God to be a sign between Him and His people. The Sabbath is the IDENTIFIABLE LINK between Him and His people. Every time we keep the Sabbath holy, we are trying to connect with God. We want to become genuine Christians.

Every scholar know that the seventh day is the Sabbath. There’s no arguing about that. But the same people profane what God calls holy.

Are we any different from them? It is not enough to know which day is the Sabbath, but we are actually called to remember it. Now, how do you remember the Sabbath? Exodus 20:8 tells us, “Remember the Sabbath day, to KEEP IT HOLY.”

Another reason why God sanctified the Sabbath is for “you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.” My friend, it is evident that God also wants us to be holy and we can do that by keeping the Sabbath! We can’t be holy on our own. It is God who has the power to make us holy, and we are made holy every time we keep the Sabbath day!

By keeping the Sabbath, we would know that God is preparing a Holy People to be part of His future Kingdom. When we honor the Sabbath, we are not simply obeying a command. We are actually expressing our desire to be part of that God. Every true believer must show a HIGH LEVEL of respect, reverence, and devotion to this day because it points us to the role we are going to play in the ETERNITY.

The Sabbath belongs to God

The Sabbath belongs to God. This is made clear in Exodus 20:10. The seventh day belongs to God, and it should not be contaminated by man.

Here’s something that I want all of us should remember; our conduct on the Sabbath should reflect the type of attitude befitting a king or priest who serves in the future kingdom of God. Our behavior must not be common or profane, but honorable and respectful.

Everything we do during this day should be directed toward our Father in heaven and His purpose for us. The Sabbath is more than just resting and attending church services. The Sabbath is about our connection to God and becoming holy.

How to make the Sabbath holy

So, my friend, do we really keep the Sabbath holy or do we profane it by doing our own pleasures? Do we treat it as the same day as the rest of the week except that we come to the Sabbath service? These are the questions we need to reflect on.

It is so easy to spot the big things that we shouldn’t do on the Sabbath such as working or going to school on this day.

But how about Facebook? Do we use Facebook excessively during the Sabbath? Does Facebook help us to keep the Sabbath holy? As a rule, we must even not open our Facebook during the Sabbath if it doesn’t have anything to do with the day we observe.

How about playing video games on our smartphones? Does that honor the Sabbath or profane it? How about watching videos that have nothing to do with the Sabbath? And as parents, it is our duty to teach our children about the proper observance of the Sabbath. Let us not babysit them with video games on our cell phone during Sabbath services.

How about doing business on the Sabbath? How many of us attend Sabbath services and yet, we have our business establishments open, or our minds are on how we can close the next business deal? How about watching movies during the Sabbath?

Instead of profaning God’s Sabbath, we must keep it by how God intended it to be. Read your Bible, Pray longer, meditate upon God’s Word and fellowship with one another.

Remember my friends that God will judge us not just by the things we do during the Sabbath, but also the things that we DON’T do on the Sabbath.

Conclusion

The Sabbath is a wonderful gift that God gives us every week. It is a blessing to have a day set aside to knowing God and His plan for us. God owns the Sabbath, and we don’t have the right to decide what we should do on this day.

A Christian can’t be holy without observing the Sabbath. It is my sincerest desire that we keep God’s Sabbath holy and fulfill the commandment of God to “be ye holy, for I am Holy.”

One thought on “Pursuing Holiness by Keeping God’s Sabbath

Leave a Reply