Day 69

Truly. Jesus saves.

Reading Numbers, and God ordering the Israelites to stone a man because he gathered wood on Sundays... Or having the earth completely DEVOUR three men, their families, and all of their possessions....

We are so so so so lucky. I really deserve some fate like that. Man have I done some sins in my life. I've already sinned today in fact--I've worked a little bit and it's the Sabbath. I've made my bed, I've sorted some laundry, I've made some coffee, done some dishes, taken the trash out... And I have plans to clean some more, do some homework, and actually go to work...

I think that whole point of the Sabbath is not to abuse it and use it as an excuse for rest, but to keep it as an observance that God created this entire world in a week! And I complain about a whole week of school sometimes! It's remembered that God rested after creating everything for us. Just like Jesus said when he healed a man on the Sabbath:

"Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus' enemies watched him closely. Would he heal the man's hand on the Sabbath? If he did, they planned to condemn him. Jesus said to the man, "Come and stand in front of everyone." Then he turned to his critics and asked, "Is it legal to do good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing harm? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?" But they wouldn't answer him. He looked around at them angrily, because he was deeply disturbed by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, "Reach out your hand." The man reached out his hand, and it became normal again! At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to discuss plans for killing Jesus"
Mark 3:1-6 


The Sabbath in my mind is about giving thanks to God for this amazing world that he has created, being grateful that I'm in the image of God, and thanking Jesus for saving my life from the horrible death that I deserve. 


Do you think it's still a sin to do work on the Sabbath? I know that it's something that in modern culture we don't really think about, but there are still cultures that observe and don't work on the Sabbath at all. Like, the Amish--they prepare everything on Saturdays, they get their churches ready on Saturdays, they do their washing and lay out their clothes on Saturdays... 


By the way, I went through a spout where I was obsessed with learning about the Amish for awhile. Also I really studied Mormonism and the Duggars, too. I'm pretty fascinated with other beliefs/cultures.


Now, I almost feel like with the way my life is, working on the Sabbath is unavoidable. There is always cleaning to get done, homework to accomplish, and just normal day-to-day activities that can't stop. 


Thank goodness we don't get stoned anymore. 


God bless,
Lauren