Together, we have faith
July 25, 2025
Week #29 — Day 6
The Blessing of the Sabbath Day
Q. 60. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?
A. The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.
Ex. 20:8, 10; Ex. 16:25-28; Neh. 13:15-19, 21-22; Luke 4:16; Acts 20:7; Ps. 92title; Isa. 66:23; Matt. 12:1-13
Q. 61. What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment forbiddeth the omission, or careless performance, of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly employments or recreations.
Ezek. 22:26; Amos 8:5; Mal. 1:13; Acts 20:7, 9; Ezek. 23:38; Jer. 17:24-26; Isa. 58:13.
“When we make the Lord’s Day like every other day, we undermine God’s pledge to one day give us rest from all our toil (Ex. 31:13; Heb. 4:4–5, 9–11). By setting apart the Lord’s Day, we confess that we cannot work our way into His favor. Christ alone has satisfied all the requirements of the law for us. Through Christ’s righteousness, received by faith alone, God promises to give us eternal rest. And we can begin that rest right now. No one can make you honor God’s day. But when He warms your heart by His grace, no one will need to.”
Excerpt From Glorifying and Enjoying God: 52 Devotions through the Westminster Shorter Catechism (Boekestein & Cruse & Miller)
The blessing of the Lord’s Day, the Sabbath. We are to cease, to rest from, our normal routines on a one–in–seven basis because our time is God’s time, and we are but
stewards of the time he has given to us in this life. Consequently, Ephesians 5:15 and Colossians 4:5 tell us to “make the most of every opportunity” — to buy up the time God has given us and use it wisely for his honor and his glory and his purposes.
How do we do that? J. I. Packer suggests “by an ordered lifestyle set within the rhythm of toil–and–rest, of work–and–worship, so that we master time instead of
being mastered by it.” Early in the twentieth century, Richard Cabot offered a formula for living that honored this cycle — “To be whole people, we must build four
elements into each day: work, play, love and worship.” “Balance” is the key, and the God who created us and knows us intimately and thoroughly says we must have this cycle of work–and–rest in order to live full, healthy, God-honoring and productive lives.
A Puritan Prayer —
“GIVER OF ALL GOOD,
Streams upon streams of love overflow my path.
Thou hast made me out of nothing,
hast recalled me from a far country,
hast translated me from ignorance to knowledge,
from darkness to light,
from death to life,
from misery to peace,
from folly to wisdom,
from error to truth,
from sin to victory.
Thanks be to thee for my high and holy calling.
I bless thee for ministering angels,
for the comfort of thy Word,
for the ordinances of thy church,
for the teaching of thy Spirit,
for thy holy sacraments,
for the communion of saints,
for Christian fellowship,
for the recorded annals of holy lives,
for examples sweet to allure,
for beacons sad to deter.
Thy will is in all thy provisions
to enable me to grow in grace,
and to be meet for thy eternal presence.
My heaven-born faith gives promise of eternal sight,
my new birth a pledge of never-ending life.
I draw near to thee, knowing thou wilt draw near to me.
I ask of thee, believing thou hast already given.
I entrust myself to thee, for thou hast redeemed me.
I bless and adore thee, the eternal God”
Excerpt From
The Valley of Vision
Edited by Arthur Bennett