Some people worship God on Saturday, some on Sunday – which is the right day?

A Day of Rest

God knew before He ever created the earth and Adam and Eve that they (and we too) would choose to want to do things our way rather than His. So God gave a set of rules to demonstrate to us that we are not fit to meet Him in our own strength and abilities. Not one of us has or can ever be perfect, “as He is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

But God had another purpose for the Law that He gave to the nation of Israel – every part of it would picture Jesus, so that people would recognize Him. In this devotional we study just this one – the law of the Sabbath Day of rest.

A Day of Mercy

Even in the Law, God set out His mercy for His people. It would have been perfectly reasonable for Him to demand sacrifices for sin every day of the week, to remind people of their unrighteousness all the time. His mercy was given in the form of a day of rest. God said that the true answer to our sin could never come from endless effort. One day His solution to our sin would mean that we would find rest from that misguided constant striving for righteousness. He placed the picture of that “rest” into the Law as one day out of the week that people were not to work. In six days, God created the world and everything in it; and on the seventh day He rested. People were given that same day of rest from work – so they would begin to wait for that day of rest. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

A Day of Invitation

The Bible says that our rest is in Jesus. Hebrews 4:11 says, “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest…” This striving is not a “work” for us, but a place to be desired. Our rest is from going about it the wrong way: “working for our salvation” which would never find success. We cannot work for our eternal life, for the forgiveness of sin, for His presence in our lives. All the work has been done, rest is ours forever in Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfilled every requirement of the Law on our behalf. Not one requirement remains for us to do. All we need is to:

1. Acknowledge before Him that we are separated from Him and cannot ever do even one thing to come to Him,
2. Believe His word that He has provided the entire payment for our sin with His own death on the cross, and… 
3. Call on Him to save us 

As we come to Him we enter His rest from our misguided effort to save ourselves. He now invites us to join Him in telling others around us about the rest we have found in Himself.

When do we worship Jesus? Every day, every moment of our lives! But the choice of day when we meet together with other believers, to encourage each other, to build each other up, to study His word together, is up to each of us – we just need to be sure to do so – Hebrews 10:24-25.