“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” – Exodus 20:8-11
Q: What is the fourth commandment?
A: You shall make the Sabbath day holy.
What does this mean?
Because we worship and love God, we should love and respect the preaching of his word, and gladly listen and learn from it.
Do you know what the word “holy” means?
The word “holy” means to set something apart. To make it special. To make it different. To make it unordinary.
That is how God wants us to view the day that we go to church. It should be different than the other days of the week. We should rest but we should also focus on God and his word. If at all possible, we shouldn’t skip church. Church is one of the ways that we grow as a disciple and without it we would be spiritually weak. Why do you think that would be?
It’s because when we sit under the preaching of God’s word, God promises to shape us by his Spirit. When we sing to God together it encourages us as we hear other believers singing to God the same God-centered lyrics that we are singing. It unites us. When we gather it also gives us opportunity to relate to one another in loving relationships. God created us to love each other.
For these reasons it is very wise for us to set Sunday services apart in our minds as holy to the Lord.
Read 2 Timothy 3:16–17:
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
- How do you think these verses relate to the importance of listening to the preaching of God’s word?
- What are some of the benefits of knowing God’s word?
- Who provided the content for the Bible?
Read
Our Father, thank you for giving us your words of life in the Bible. Thank you that you have shown us the importance of regularly listening to it being preached. My we make Sundays holy to you. May it be set apart in our mind and we pray that you would use it to grow us into disciples that love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. In Jesus’ name, Amen.