The Sabbath... Why should we observe it today?

The Sabbath... just some thoughts/reflection   Genesis 2.2 - 3 “2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done”   Wording to note here... “He rested from all the work he had been doing... He Blessed the day, setting it aside, making it Holy”. Holiness is something that we are called to pursue & be! 2 Peter 1, Heb 12.14, 1 Peter 1.15 – 16.. Paul calls us to imitate Him as he imitated Christ... the whole point of being a Christ follower is to follow the example of Jesus, our creator... Jn 1.1, Col 1.17. We see that Jesus rests after his days of work... setting us an example to follow, imitate.   In Exodus 20.8 – 11 “ Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.”   In the new testament we see Jesus note the most important commands in Mark 12.30 – 31 “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” 31 The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’” These commands if you like summarise the 10, which expand on examples of what God see’s as loving him and others... the first four pertaining to how we show our love for God and the nest six on how we show love to our fellow man. Jesus himself notes that he has come to fulfil the law not to do away with it. The big difference is yes that of course He brings Grace and relationship with the Father, but there is no indication that we are not to honour our love of Him or man... and one of the ways we can show our love for him is by stopping, setting the day aside, making it Holy... distinct and separate from work days...   This is the reason for it: Mark 2.23- 3.6... very much new covenant thinking, no legalism here, Jesus denouncing that in the passage.. Pay particular attention to Mark 2.27 “ The Sabbath was made for man (as in man and women!), not man for the Sabbath... We are clearly encouraged that we observe a Sabbath day!   One Sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ Then he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.’ Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come forward.’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.   Thankfully we are no longer to be put to death for not observing it! Exodus 31.13...   Hope the above was a blessing... it was good to go over it again in my own head!   Wilf