The Way to Rest – A Kingdom Catechism

The Way to Rest

A Kingdom Catechism

We must guard the Lord’s Day against everyday intrusions.

Q 77: How do the redeemed of the Lord rest from their weekly occupations?

A 77: The redeemed of the Lord rest from their weekly occupations by ceasing from their normal work and pleasures so that they may the better delight in the Lord. (Isa. 58:13, 14; Exod. 20:9, 10; Deut. 5:12, 14)

Six days have been given to us to do the work assigned by the Lord for the progress of His Kingdom and the maintenance of our and our neighbors’ needs. The seventh day is to be kept free of such labors, except as works of mercy and necessity require. Nor should we be a cause for others to have to work on this day, but must, by our example and exhortation, encourage all people to make good use of the Lord’s Day according to His purposes, and not our own.

There is more delight, satisfaction, and refreshment to be known in resting in the Lord than we can ever obtain by continuing our everyday work into the Lord’s Day. It requires faith, obedience, and a disciplined life to make the best use of the Sabbath, but the blessings that come to us through such faithfulness more than offset whatever we may hope to achieve by failing to make this a holy day.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.