Do not profane the Sabbath of the Son of God, but conduct your business at the proper time. On Sundays meditate on the Scriptures, read them aloud and make copies of them.

  - The Rule of Ciarán, Irish, 7th or 8th century[1]

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.’”

  - Exodus 31.12, 13

Those old Celts surely knew how to have fun. Especially on the Lord’s Day.

Ah, think of it—a whole day set aside for nothing else but thinking about and communing with the Lord, resting our weary bodies, meditating on Scripture, going deeper into Jesus, talking about spiritual things, reviewing our week in the light of God’s Word, wandering in our spirits through the corridors of glory in the throne room of King Jesus, and looking ahead to another week of Kingdom-seeking work. What a blessing!

No pressures of work. No outside diversions or distractions to keep us from focusing on the Lord. Just a whole day set aside for being in the beautiful Presence of Jesus Christ. What joy.

To many believers—perhaps most?—that doesn’t sound like much of a blessing. What about football? Going out to eat? Heading out to the lake? Getting in a little tennis or golf? Doing some shopping? Isn’t Sunday supposed to be a day for me?

Well, yes—and no.

It’s significant that of only one of His commandments does the Lord use the phrase, “surely”. Our text shows us which one. That Hebrew word, ach!, is an exclamation made for emphasis, and it appears only in conjunction with the fourth commandment.

Surely!

Believers in every generation (v. 13) should honor the Lord’s Day as a sign to remind and renew us in the sanctifying grace of God. Ignore the sign and you might miss the next turn in your journey with the Lord. Or you may stray from the road God has mapped out for you along the path of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit. Honor the sign and your journey will make recognizable progress, week after week.

The Lord’s Day is just that—His day, but a day in which He delights to refresh and renew us in Himself. We must not presume to make it merely our day, one in which our rules, our preferences, and our interests are paramount. God has a plan for how we should use His day, and those who regularly submit to that plan call the Sabbath a delight and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (Is 58.13, 14).

The two versions of the Ten Commandments—in Exodus and Deuteronomy—provide two different verbs for making best use of the Lord’s Day, and two different reasons why we should. In this and the next two installments of Crosfigell, I want to explain each of these, and help you think a little more clearly about how you can begin to make the most of this day God surely wants us to keep as a sign of our sanctification.

First, the verbs: In Exodus 20.8 God commands us to remember the Sabbath. That is a very active word in the Hebrew, which is frequently used to describe God’s detailed attending to the needs of His people. We remember the Lord’s Day as we should when we remember it as we should, when we plan for it well and conduct all the details of it in line with God’s purposes for our sanctification.

In Deuteronomy 5.12 God commands us to observe the Sabbath. That word is literally, “guard,” and it recalls the work of the cherubim with their flaming sword, guarding the Garden of Eden against Adam’s return (Gen. 4.24). That use of the word harks back to God’s original charge to Adam in Genesis 2.15, where the word is used with respect to Adam’s duty to guard the Garden from whatever might spoil its God-intended use.

So we are to remember the Lord’s Day, arranging all the details of it to further our sanctification; and we are to guard each Sunday against anything that might come in and spoil its purpose as a sign for our sanctification. That seems to have been the view of Celtic Christians as well.

“Surely,” the Lord commands us to keep His Sabbaths “throughout your generations.”

We pervert the Sabbath to our own pleasure at our own peril.

For Reflection
1. What are your practices for remembering and guarding the Lord’s Day?

2. What outside interruptions or distractions can keep you from remembering and guarding the Lord’s Day? 

Psalm 95.7-9, 6 (Tidings: “O Zion, Haste, Thy Mission High Fulfilling”)
You are our God, we are Your sheep, Your people:
Speak, LORD, and let us hearken to Your Word.
Let not our hearts grow hard through sin and feeble,
As when our fathers sinned against You, LORD.
  Come, let us worship, kneel to our LORD;
  Worship our Maker: Father, Holy Spirit, Word 

Thank you.
Many of you are faithful and generous in praying for and supporting Crosfigell and The Fellowship of Ailbe. Thank you. May I encourage all our readers to seek the Lord about becoming a supporter of The Fellowship of Ailbe? It’s easy to give to The Fellowship of Ailbe, and all gifts are, of course, tax-deductible. You can click here to donate online through credit card or PayPal, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.

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.

[1] Ó Maidín, p. 46.