ROOTED - Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Exodus 20:8-11
8-11 Remember the Sabbath day and 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; you shall not do any work - you, your son and daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or your 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 seventh day and consecrated it.

Reflection: Question #52, Part 1
Written By: Pastor Jesse Caro
Question: What is the Fourth Commandment?

Answer: Exodus 20:8-11

Growing up in my strictly conservative Christian home, my dad would not allow us to work or do much strenuous activity on Sunday. He would never cut the grass, for example, on Sunday. We were taught the strictest adherence to this “rule.” I recognize completely that there are particular industries and services (like medical care, grocery stores) that must necessarily provide services. As a family growing up, however, we would not eat out on a Sunday because that would encourage an industry to be open that was not strictly “necessary.” Admittedly, this was taken too far, for certain. I believe that we can take seriously the commandment to keep the Sabbath without going overboard.   

That said, however, this commandment should be taken seriously. What does it mean, in our culture in 2025, to honor God with a Sabbath? God takes this serious enough to add it to his top ten, after all. And the reason he takes it seriously is because he has made this day holy. He consecrated it. He set it apart for his purposes. Indeed, he created the entire universe in six days and rested the seventh. I feel quite certain that God did not tire of speaking the universe into existence. He “rested” such to give us a release from our human tendency to work. He rested such that he modeled for us how to live… how to rest. So, honor God one day a week and rest! Don’t work. Keep the Sabbath. 
 

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for releasing us of the need to work every day. Help us to honor you one day a week by resting in fulfillment of the fourth commandment.