“Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.” – God
After not using the Lord’s name in vain, the third and final Commandment pertaining specifically to loving God with our total mind, heart, and soul is also a commandment designed for us. It gives us an opportunity to rest, relax, regroup and talk to God.
Why is Sabbath Day on a Sunday?
For the Jews this commandment meant to give the Sabbath day only to the Lord; it means this for Christians too. For the Jews, the “Sabbath day”, or day of rest, was on Saturday, but the Christians changed the day of rest to Sunday to coincide with Jesus’ resurrection which took place on a Sunday. Sunday is also the day we Catholics celebrate the Eucharist.
Jewish gathering and worship also took place on the Sabbath day. Since the Jewish followers of Christ changed what happened during worship or worshipped God in a different way with the Eucharist it only seemed fitting to change the Sabbath to a day more fittingly appropriate to their belief in Jesus as the Messiah.
In the first story of Creation found at the beginning of the book of Genesis we see that God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh. From this comes the command of the day of rest. “In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD has blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:11)
Why Should We Rest?
Reading about the third commandment in the book of Exodus you will discover that God wants us to have a day of rest. God rested on the seventh day and so should you.
We all need a day to kick back and relax and enjoy some time with our families and friends. We should also take that time to connect with God and think about the wonderful things that he has blessed us with. It’s easy for us to connect with God on Sundays by participating in Mass.
God gave us that day because he knows that we all need rest. In order to love God and love our neighbors, we need to dedicate some time to do specifically just that.
The Next Commandment
The third commandment determines the last commandment that focuses on our relationship with God. The next commandment focuses on our relationship with our parents, siblings, spouses, and others. So remember, next Sunday take the day off and enjoy the day with God, your family/friends or just relax! You are honoring God through this!