The command to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy is the LORD’s guidance to help us overcome enemies of intimacy with Him and of fruitfulness, so we can mature spiritually and truly be blessed and rewarded on earth including in the financial arena of our lives. He does not want you to be lazy or over-worked, rather hard-working with reasonable periods of rest for your mind and hands, so you will have consistent fruitful and creative cycles in your life. Therefore, He exhorts you to labor using your mind and hands to produce that which is good, so you and others may be blessed by your harvest.
He recognizes the command to labor could develop in you a tendency to always be at work believing your worth is based on what you do, the work title you obtain, or how much you earn in this life. Thus, He also exhorts you to remember the Sabbath, which means to spend suitable time worshipping Him and resting instead of engaging in the works to which you are employed the remainder of the week.
This focuses you on rest from normal labors where you take time to develop a more intimate relationship with Him and on helping you understanding His will better, so during the remainder of the week you are not spending time doing things that are not His priority for your life. Most people think that continual busyness working at their trade is the key to success and it has moved society away from spending time with the Lord and resting in His presence. We tend to think that if we start a business it must be open seven days a week or else it will fail, and we think that there are so many things to do at home that we must spend every evening and the entire weekend trying to complete our “To Do List.”
Yet, biblical principles let us know that we will be successful working less than seven days per week and that we will be refreshed and have correct and renewed vision and energy when we take appropriate time each week to worship the Lord and rest our bodies and minds. Failure to maintain godly priorities in what you do is an enemy of productivity because it does not profit you to gain the world yet lose your soul!
There’s an entrepreneur who has led a fast food restaurant chain for four decades and never opens his stores on Sundays (not even in shopping malls) so his family and business can honor the LORD, rest, and renew their minds, spend time with family, and hopefully choose to fellowship with other believers in order to mature/ Despite advice that he could not prosper unless his stores were open every day to compete against other fast food chains, he became a multi-billionaire and his business has allowed many others to become multi-millionaires, take great care of other people, and do many good works around the world. His family operates over 1700 stores and 80,000 employees and have by far the lowest rate of employee attrition (people leaving his employ) than any other fast food chain in the world.
There are many more real-life stories of businesses and individuals who have experienced great success while keeping the Sabbath. The Sabbath principle benefits you to the same degree no matter whether you’re an entrepreneur or employee. This weekly time of rest with the Lord will help:
1. Invigorate you mentally and physically
2. Give you renewed focus
3. Produce as much mental and physical health as is possible for you
4. Re-energize you to engage in required activities in the most productive manner
5. Produce good family, friend, and workplace relationships
6. Engage you in priorities that please the Lord and help you do good deeds that benefit you and other people.
Constant busyness places and keeps you in bondage whereas observing the Sabbath through weekly rest from your labors and times of intimacy with the LORD eliminates bondage by providing the mechanism for freedom you need to truly be fulfilled and prosperous in this life and prepared for eternity.
Please pray for this ministry and email me with any questions. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!
Exodus 20:8, Isaiah 56:6, Matthew 12:12, Mark 2:27
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