The Sabbath

On this National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, we remember the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country, that infamous Sunday morning in 1941. A surprise attack from hostile forces at Pearl Harbor cut short the dreams of just over 2,400 soldiers, but galvanized the wills of millions of ordinary Americans to defend liberty and freedom across the globe. Recently, I was stirred while reading a book about ‘The Greatest Generation.’ This book, compiling numerous vignettes of life in those days, tells the stories of several relatively unknown Americans who, upon being faced with the unprecedented challenges associated with world war, rose to meet them in inspiring ways.

In words written over two decades ago, President Reagan reminded the American people that “their devotion must never be forgotten.” From Washington, D.C. to Hawaii, from Alaska to Texas, and in every other state of the union, one will find memorials that have been erected to honor the memory and devotion of the Greatest Generation. Today’s generation would do well to remember their ancestor’s legacy when considering the implications of its own date-driven event.

In words written over four millennia ago, the God of Heaven reminded His people that “the Sabbath must never be forgotten.” From Jerusalem to Atlanta, from Sweden to Thailand, and all across the world, one will find faithful servants of heaven dimming their lights and popping their corn to honor that day their Creator has set apart as ‘holy’.

The Sabbath is also a memorial, established by God to bring honor to His sanctifying power. He told His people in Exodus 31:13 that the Sabbath was ‘a sign between Me and you…that you may know that I am Jehovah who sanctifies you.’ Insofar as God has sanctified a day, I take courage in His ability to sanctify other things, including, but not limited to, myself. If God can sanctify an intangible concept, such as the passage of time, than surely He can sanctify a physical being created in His own image.

But the Sabbath is also a forward looking memorial, if you will, that provides us with a foretaste of the Ultimate Sabbath – that millennial time when the process of sanctification is complete and His people experience fully what it means to ‘ride on the heights of the earth’ and be fed ‘with the heritage of Jacob’.

After a week of having risen up, by God’s grace, to meet diverse challenges, may this Sabbath be refreshing reminder of God’s sanctifying power and a glorious glimpse of days to come.