- “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” For many Christians, this command is optional, perhaps drawing this conclusion from Mark 2:23-28. What do you think? How can Christians practice this command (at least in spirit) in the busyness of our lives?
I think that it is a lifestyle that will be for the good of man and we ignore it to our own detriment or at the very least, forgo the blessing it contains. I think it is a lifestyle that you form and once formed it will create a lot of time and space for our spiritual life to develop. I doubt that it is intended to be a lifestyle that we slavishly adhere to but we do well to ensure that our lifestyle has time and space for God, for good, and for our spiritual well being. One day out of seven is a simple sacrifice that we surely can accomplish.
- “Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” Paul noted in Ephesians 6 that this is the first command with a promise attached. How do you understand the command and the attached promise, in the context of your own life? What do you think it means in practice to honour your parents?
I think, just as it is important for more mature disciples to help shape younger disciples in order that discipleship may be well guarded through time, so too that parents should shape and mould their children. This can only happen when the younger honour the older and allow them to teach and transfer the wisdom of their experience. Obviously all this is in the context of people who follow God as otherwise it is the wisdom or foolishness of the world (note what God said about sin visiting the children and children’s children).
- These two commands are positive commands in relation to our life and conduct—they are do’s and not don’ts. How has your own life been shaped by them?
My father has been more of an absentee parent, having to travel around the country to make a living. My mother prays for us regularly and taught me to pray as a young child. Our english education meant that she had difficulty communicating with us when it came to more complicated stuff like the Christian faith but I appreciate her faithfulness in the simple things: prayer, service in church, evangelism. I only learned to love my parents in return more intentionally when I was in my forties but am grateful that I had another twenty or so years to get to know them as persons before they passed on.