The Ten Commandments - Fourth Commandment

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Fourth Commandment We come to the last of the commandments focusing on God. It is yet another commandment nobody adheres to, and yet even scientists have found it is necessary for the body to rest from work with a day off every week. Exodus20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. When I was a child stores were closed on Sunday. Even taverns or bars were closed, and you could not buy a car on Sunday, and was still the case a few years ago. I’m not certain if that rule still applies. However, with the progress of retail shopping with malls rising up and opening up all over the country, stores expanded their hours to seven days a week, and even becoming twenty-four hour stores to lure customers through their doors. Work applications needed to show the place of employment was an equal opportunity employer and didn’t discriminate against race and religion among other things. People were eager to do two things – earn money and keep up with their neighbors, so they were seen in stores at all hours of the day and night. As a result, churches lost regular attendees. Recreation became more important than God. Church attendance went down, crime went up. God told Moses His people were to work six days a week and rest on the seventh day because God rested and hallowed – made sacred – the seventh day. Scientists found when people worked more than six days in a row, stress and health related problems were readily seen in the work place. People needed time off. However, it wasn’t science who started the forty hour work week. It was Henry Ford, and his reasoning was so his employees would have time to buy the things they needed. It all centers on the consumer and if there are consumers – you and me, there need to be businesses for consumers, and that means people to work. God told Moses to keep the Sabbath day holy. Work six days not seven, and that meant everybody, and God told him the reason why – because He, God, rested on the Sabbath day and hallowed it. How do we keep the Sabbath day holy? 1. We go to our place of worship and give God the honor and praise for all He did for us. 2. We spend time with our family in leisure activities, not at the malls and stores, but in leisure activities. It’s time to play with our children, connect with them, and let them know we value them. It’s time to spend with our spouse and let him or her know how much he or she means to us. When we put God back in first place in our lives, God will bring honor into ours. Not only that, we will be rested and ready for another work week. It’s time we obeyed the Fourth Commandment and rested on the Sabbath and put God back in our lives. Image courtesy of Pixabay