QUESTION by Charli:
Since we have our rest in Jesus, and what was once physical is now spiritual, why would the sabbath be a day?
If Jesus is truly our rest (which of course He is) and things that once were physical are now spiritual (the temple, inward holiness rather than outward....) then what reasons do we have to still keep the sabbath on a certain day? This is a genuine question, and I thank all for their responses.
Answer by Trent (inspired)
What does love look like?
A good indication that two people are in love is when they give one another gifts and wrap them in pretty paper with a touching note attached. Next time your beloved gives such a gift it is wise to open it and not just toss it aside, but take a moment to carefully examine what is given ... if it is clothes, then it is nice to try it on. If it is a necklace then ask your beloved to help you with the clasp (if required) so that you can wear it. It is nice to ask why they picked out the pendant and what it might mean, or otherwise engage in conversation about it.
In contrast, what would you think about a person who is loved and given such a gift, but instead refuses to open it? What if they open it and treat it with disregard or even worse ... with disdain / anger as if the devil wrapped it as a trap and placed it at your doorstep as a cruel trick? Would that reaction to the gift indicate mutual love or hatefulness?
And so I speak to you as someone who was so hateful to leave the gift wrapped and treat it like my beloved was tricking me for many years. I only speak to you about what I have done. Now, even upon occasion a friend would come along and say they opened the gift and love it, but I struck at them with my mouth and with my thoughts birthed in darkness and ignorance. I suppose there is something in human nature that fears what they do not know about ... and it is perhaps for this reason that the Lord made it clear ... its not a trap ... it is a gift!
Mr 2:27
And He said unto them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."I will tell you something that very few will understand, but I will say it anyway. These things (sabbaths and holy days / feasts) that I once treated with disdain, I now treasure as wonderful gifts from my Lord and Savior. I don't ever want to try to get by without them, but I didn't know that until I finally decided to experiment one day ... and give the gift a try. I opened the gift! And AFTERWARD God opened my eyes!
I don't know if your experience will be different than mine, but for me ... I didn't "get it" until I DID it. It was still a mystery ... I still was not sure it really was a gift.
Fastforward 1 year or so since my first Sabbath experience: God and I are giving each other presents constantly ... He always gives me more than I can give back ... and He always has a gift waiting for me every week. That is the way I see each Sabbath, now. I never would have guessed I would end up like this ... like a quivering lover delighted and opening one gift after another ... with glee each time. Thus, this has inspired me to make my whole life a gift to Him ... I just want to ... what else could someone do with so little to give, but just to honor Him in all my ways the best I know how ... and in the meantime do my best to open each new gift He gives me ... as a lover would open a gift ... no hate fullness found anymore.
You may not "get it" until you DO it. That's the best thing I can tell you.
Mt 5:19 -
Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Behold the Lamb of God! Without spot or blemish sent to die for the sins of the world, bearing the full weight of transgression in His own body. My Son, you are, and will always be, the Risen Lamb of God, whereby you took the leaven of the world, having completely unleavened all men once for all time by your blood, having been the perfect sacrifice for sin, acceptable to God, whereby men have been reconciled to the Father; they themselves becoming once again My sons and daughters free to enter the Garden and My love, which they shall never again be separated; their new life lived in and for Christ Jesus, the Lord and Savior, in whom I am well pleased. ~ God [Letters from God and His Christ - Volume 5 - Unleavened]