Sundays used to be the day set aside as the Lord’s Day, a day to worship God and rest from all other activities. Today, however, Sunday is no longer a hallowed day. Sadly, many Christians no longer look on Sunday as a day to prioritize Christian activities. Millions of believers can be seen heading for their family hideaway — a cabin in the mountains, a house in the country, a chalet at the lake. For them, Sunday is one big play day of boating, swimming, skiing, going on cruises or outings.
What does the Lord have to say about the Sabbath? Well, in one place, Moses said, “The Lord has given you the Sabbath … so the people rested on the seventh day” (Exodus 16:29-30). In other words, the Sabbath was meant as a gift from God to man — and it had a holy purpose. You see, sabbath means, literally, “to cease,” or, “to stop what you’re doing.” And the fourth commandment tells us, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8).
The Bible describes it this way: “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work …for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lords blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:9-11).
What does it mean to keep the Sabbath holy? If it is not just a matter of legalistic obedience, and is rather a spiritual observance, then what must we do?
It definitely involves rest — physical rest — but there’s a holy rest that begins in the soul: “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). What is this rest? It is the laying of all our sin-burdens on Christ! God calls us to live all our days free of fear, worry and anxiety — to walk in the Spirit, with no more heavy burdens.
Beloved, rejoice over your position in Christ and let every day be a day of Sabbath as you honor him.
Be the first to react on this!
David Wilkerson (1931 – 2011)
Founder of Times Square Church in New York City with over 100 different languages spoken in the congregation. Wilkerson wrote many powerful books such as: The Vision and Cross and the Switchblade. His ministry was prophetic as God called him to be a watchman to the Church in North America. He gave clear messages on repentance to the Church.Wilkerson also founded Teen Challenge where there are hundreds of centres for Christ-centered drug recovery and addiction recovery. He also organized and spoke at pastors gatherings in many countries where he gave prophetic strong messages to encourage pastors and leaders.
Recommends these books by David Wilkerson:
The Vision and Beyond, Prophecies Fulfilled and Still to Come by David Wilkerson
Knowing God by Name: Names of God That Bring Hope and Healing by David Wilkerson
God's Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression by David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson is an American Christian evangelist, most well-known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He is also the founder of Times Square Church in New York, an interdenominational church.
Wilkerson is well-known for these early years of his ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. He co-authored a book about his work with the New York drug addicts, The Cross and the Switchblade, which became a best-seller, selling over 50 million copies in over thirty languages since it was published in 1963. The book was included among the 100 most important Christian books of the 20th century.
For over four decades, Wilkerson's ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. He has authored over 30 books.
David Wilkerson is the founder and president of World Challenge, Inc., a nonprofit organization incorporated on September 22, 1971. Reverend Wilkerson, the author of over thirty inspirational books, is perhaps best known for his early days of ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. His story is told in The Cross and the Switchblade, a book he co-authored which became a best-seller. (The story has been read by over 50 million people in some thirty languages and 150 countries since 1963. In 1969, a motion picture of the same title was released.)
For over four decades, Reverend Wilkerson's evangelistic ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. Throughout that time a distinctive characteristic of his work has been his direct efforts to reach the neediest members of the population with help for both body and soul. Even now, the almost 70 year-old minister often goes out alone or sometimes with an assistant to walk through the streets of New York City, along Broadway and Eighth Avenue or down 42nd Street and nearby "Crack Alley" on 41st Street. His mission is always to seek out the lost, the disoriented, and the addicted , to tell them of the power of the risen Christ to set them free.
David Wilkerson, born in Hammond, Indiana on May 19, 1931, was married in 1953 to Gwen Carosso. The Wilkersons' two sons are ministers, and their two daughters are married to ministers. They have 11 grandchildren. The Wilkersons served small pastorates in Scottsdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, until Reverend Wilkerson saw a photograph in Life magazine of several New York City teenagers charged with murder. Moved with compassion he was drawn to the city in February 1959. It was at that time he began his street ministry to what one writer called "desperate, bewildered, addicted, often violent youth.