AUG 3

Exodus 20:8-11
Memorise Exodus 20:8-11
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”

Of all the 10 commandments listed in Exodus 20, the most number of verses and longest description is devoted to this 4th commandment. In the history of the Church, this has also been one of the most controversial, most debated, but least observed commandment of all. It is also the commandment that receives the most attention in the gospels, as it was often a point of contention between Jesus and the Pharisees.

So we ask, what is this 4th commandment all about? The instruction about it is simple – it calls upon us to “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). The verses that follow further elaborates what one should and should not do in observing this commandment, and also explains the reason for this law in the first place.

Yet in Christendom today, there is a huge debate surrounding this commandment. It ranges from whether we even need to obey this commandment in the first place, to how strictly we ought to keep it, and what we can and cannot do on a Sunday. There are many questions surrounding this topic, and many passages in the Bible deal with the various aspects of it. Instead of spending our time pondering over each of these matters, having endless debates about the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’, what we really need to do is to get down to the root of the issue – what is the purpose behind this commandment, and what does God really want us to do? If we can answer this main question, then we would know how to rightly abide by it every week of our lives.

Basically, what we are called to do is to ‘remember’, and to ‘keep it holy’. To remember means we don’t forget. It means each week, we have a day in seven where we would set aside to remember, to ponder, to set our hearts and minds upon the Creator who created the whole world in six days, and then commanded us to rest and remember the seventh. It is about time set aside in devotion and consecration to God. To keep it holy means we take particular attention to the things that we do, places we go, activities we involve ourselves in, and even the thoughts that we have, that they are focused on our God, and not on carnal things. It means a day where we put aside all our secular worldly concerns and distractions, and specially devote ourselves to God.

Thought: Surely I can set aside one day in seven for God!
Prayer: Lord, help me be careful of how I spend the Lord’s day.