Caution – Don’t Be Legalistic

On the seventh day, God rested.
He wants us to rest--physically and spiritually.
Do you rest and honor the Sabbath Day...
to make it holy?

So—everyday is the Sabbath. It is a day that is to be kept holy, as the LORD’s Holy day (Isaiah 38:13), observing it to honor the LORD God because He created the Sabbath. What should we do to observe the Sabbath, without creating rules and regulations that are legalistic like the Pharisees? God commanded the Israelites not to work. He created instructions for His promised people as He brought them out of bondage from Egypt. Although the Ten Commandments still require obedience, some specific guidance do not apply to Christians. Guidelines can become burdens when they are followed to the letter rather than from the heart. Jesus told us that…

Then Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. Mark 2:27 NLT

 

And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27 NKJV (also NIV)

From Jesus’ words we can assume that He meant that we don’t have to be legalistic about meeting the requirement of the Sabbath guidelines, if we choose to follow a Sabbath custom.

What should we do? No work was one of God’s commands. The American work week is loosely based on having Saturday and Sunday off—except for those with rotating schedules or those in service-related jobs like health care, food services or restaurants, rescue operations, and even public service centers like forest or state parks and libraries. There are people within all sorts of jobs or career fields that are required to work on weekends. They have alternate days off, but do they celebrate a sabbath on those days? If our Sabbath is every day, we cannot just stop working. Wouldn’t some lazy people just love that. God expects us to work—but He also expects us to rest.

No idle talk or following your own desires were other directives to honor the Sabbath to make it a holy day. What can you do to show God that it a special day in which you are setting time aside to worship and honor Him? The choice is yours—to celebrate a Sabbath day and to honor God.

 

Prayer – Lord, the Sabbath is to honor You. I worship and adore You—every day, not just on Saturday and Sunday.

 

Meditate. Consider God’s Sabbath. Read His word and listen to what He is saying.

 

Verse of Salvation ~ Help us, O God of our salvation! Help us for the glory of your name. Save us and forgive our sins for the honor of your name. Psalm 79:9

 

© 2025 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted. 

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New King James Version (NKJV) © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Harper Collins Publisher. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm. 

 

Books by Mickey M. Hunacek

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