Not Sure I Really Get It

Keeping the Sabbath—how am I supposed to do this? I want to worship and honor God on Sunday because this is what he commanded. But what is required?

"Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work...the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” Deuteronomy 5:12-14a, 15b NIV

This is where I get confused. What is considered work? Is it okay for me to cook, make my bed, or put a load in the washer? Is it wrong for me to avoid the “work of cooking” by eating out which makes someone else work? I am loathe to venture into the topic of working a paid job on Sunday. Jesus in the New Testament does make it clear that we are not to be legalistic and be governed by rules in our observation of the Sabbath.

“Then he asked them, ‘If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?’" Luke 14:5 NIV

How am I to know what behaviors are acceptable on Sunday? I do not have a son, ox, or well. How am I to deal with current day conditions? Granted, Jesus is making the point that emergency situations are to be handled. He healed on the Sabbath, so kind and cheritable acts are also acceptable. This information gives me some direction. Tonight I read a passage in Isaiah which helps by giving a somewhat clearer vision of Sabbath observation.

"‘If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.’ The mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 58:13-14 NIV

So, to keep the Sabbath holy I must focus on God—on worshipping him with my whole heart. I am not to do as I please. I am to joyfully pray and sing to him. I am not to sit around gossiping or speaking idly. Instead I am to be praising God with my lips.

Lord, thank you for making the observation of the Sabbath clearer to me today. Keep revealing to me what you want me to do and not do on the day you have commanded us to set aside for worshipping you.