And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORDyour God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORDyour God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

  - Deuteronomy 5.15

For the way to make repayment for that revelation of God through capture and enslavement is to declare and make known His wonders to every race under heaven.

  - Patrick, Confession, British, 5^th century

In the Exodus 20 giving of the Ten Commandments, the motive for keeping the Lord’s Day related to the works of God. We attend faithfully to the Lord’s Day and guard it from outside distractions when we take up reading, meditating on, studying, and celebrating the works of God in creation, culture, and history.

In the second giving of the Commandments, in Deuteronomy 5, an additional motive and focus is provided. The Lord’s Day should be used to remember what God has done for us in delivering us from captivity to sin, bringing us to eternal life in Jesus, and commissioning us for new life in His Kingdom.

This was Patrick’s incentive for the work that occupied him all those years. He never forgot God’s redeeming grace, and he worked to provide “repayment” for what he was freely given, not to purchase something he longed to possess. Freed from captivity and enslavement by the grace of God, and saved from His sins through Jesus, Patrick devoted His entire life to remembering what God had done, and extending His grace to others.

Surely we can manage one day a week for such a focus?

I think it’s a good practice to pray regularly through the blessings of God, beginning with how we first came to know Him. This is what we find David doing in Psalm 18. It’s good to remember – to recall in detail – the many and varied ways God remembers us each day, and to offer “repayment” for His grace in a day of meditation and rest in Him.

It’s also a good day to pray for the people in your Personal Mission Field, as well as for lost people all around the world. God is able to deliver people from captivity to sin, as we know. Our prayers can play an important role in the saving work of the Lord. Since He delivered us so graciously, gratitude to God and concern for lost sinners should impel us to intercede for them. Sunday is the perfect day for such prayers.

God intends His Day to be a sign for our sanctification – a reminder of what He has done and is doing in order to make us more like Jesus and to fit us for a week of working in His vineyard. By remembering the Lord’s Day we plan ahead, preparing activities to fill our day with rest, prayer, meditation, and waiting in silence on the Lord. Reflecting on His works of creation and redemption, and all the benefits these entail, can cause our hearts to swell with gratitude for His grace and mercy. And gratitude is a necessary component for the work we will do in the week to come.

We’ll also want to make sure we block off any outside influences that might distract us from focusing on the Lord and His work, so that our day can be taken up entirely with resting in Him. By thus guarding the Lord’s Day from work and other distractions, we’ll make better use of that time for the purposes of God.

The Lord’s Day was made for us, but not for our own indulgence. It was made for us to teach and prepare us for resting in the Lord at all times, focusing constantly on Him, and walking in the path of sanctification He has marked out for us in His Word.

Make good use of the Lord’s Day, and you’ll know more of the presence, promise, and power of His Kingdom, both on Sunday, and throughout the week.

Psalm 95.1, 2 (Tidings: “O Zion, Haste, Thy Mission High Fulfilling”).
Come, let us sing with joy to God, our Savior!
Let us with joy to Him, our Rock, bow down!
Come now before Him, grateful for His favor;
Let joyful psalms break forth from all around.
  Come, let us worship, kneel to our Lord;
  Worship our Maker: Father, Holy Spirit, Word.

Fill me with gratitude for Your saving mercy, Lord, and help me to use Your Day as a time of true resting in You.

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T. M. Moore, Principal
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All Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.