Sabbath

JUNE 1, 1980, 5:04 AM
TUSTIN, LIVING ROOM

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. You come, o son, poised between “sabbaths” for Saturday is past and Sunday has not yet dawned. Each is a Sabbath for some of My servants. The specific day is not important. Keeping whichever it is holy is important. (When you return home find another teaching I gave on the Sabbath and compare it with this one. You shall see some interesting similarities, though you remember not what the other one said… at this time.)

One of My Commandments is Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. It is not one of the “lesser Commandments”. It is of equal value with those concerning adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, and coveting. It is one of the positive ones. And most of you, even servants, shall not live up to its requirements this day.

“Remember”. The first verb admonishes… or gently reminds… you to keep your attention focused on this special day of Mine from its beginning to its end. That may seem silly… “a waste of a good day”. Try it some time. Do it faithfully. Then criticize it… or perhaps you won’t. Consider this: in a seven day period, under this present commitment, you have been remembering Me for a total of nearly eight hours, a work day for many. With Scripture reading and contemplation of these writings you could easily increase that to twelve hours or more a week, which would be the respectable equivalent of a Sabbath. From where you are this is the best approach to remembering the Sabbath. Trying to remember Me for a whole day would be a task beyond you. Commandments are law, but law is ultimately spirit (even Spirit) so it is quite proper to seek the spirit of the law, rather than merely the “letter”. Set your sights on this variation of remembering.

“Sabbath day”. You immediately see that the word “day” can mean the sunlit portion, as contrasted with night, or it can mean the whole twenty-four hour period. Which is it? Both/and. Just never affirm that it is either one, to the exclusion of the other. It is a day of rest and contemplation of small, medium, and mighty works that I have done… and still do. It is a day of seeing Me in all the artifacts and interactions of life. If your spiritual advancement is considerable you do this while carrying on fairly normal activities. You know that you have to consciously try to do it… but at least you are aware of where you shall eventually be, in relation to this remembering.

“To keep it holy”. The focus is on holiness or wholeness. You are to consider the wholeness of Creation and of My Workings in the earth. It is not that the spiritual is to be emphasized, even to exclusion, but that it is to be included in the consideration and appreciation of everything. It is a time in which to practice seeing every act, every interaction, every thought and deed in its wholeness… which is its holiness.

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. You shall do this today, though you will not do it well. Make some reminder for yourself… something to bring you back to the remembering and the keeping. This day, with all of its reporting, juggling, decision-making, request-considering, and traveling, is not the ideal one to be a Sabbath. But as the last shall be first; so the non-ideal shall be ideal, and this, today, is your Sabbath. Can you remember it? Can you remember Me?

Intent is more vital than performance. Where your heart is… where your will is… these are the whereabouts that attract My attention. Seek ye first.

The commandment, like unto the negative ones also, is not meant to restrict you, but to fulfill you. Keeping people from doing things is not My Purpose. Urging and helping people to greater fullness of spirit, greater appreciation and love of Me and of one another, and greater willingness to share in whole and holy ways is mostly “what I am about” here in the earth.

You are into this Sabbath now. How well can you keep it as the day progresses. I shall be interested to see.

A Sabbath shalom
6:09 AM