I’m reading Exodus right now and so this morning I spent time in Exodus 31 this morning and I read in verse 13, “Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths” (ESV). I honestly had never really given this much thought but yesterday I read about the Passover (Exodus 12:42) & the three feasts (Exodus 23:14) and you know, God never says “above all” about these feasts.
The feasts are very important, we know that from the very strict guidelines that God set up for their observation and the emphasis that he placed on them, but he never says “above all.” He saves that for the regular, every week, Sabbath day. Following God is not about recognizing him during one of the 3-4 days our churches emphasize each year (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, & some day where we try to get everyone back in August or September). Follow God has to be a lifestyle.
We need church, we are designed to need community and as Christians we need Christian community. Church should not be something we do when we don’t have something better to do. It shouldn’t even be something we do pretty consistently. We should be sitting under the teaching of a shepherd (pastor, preacher, elder, whatever you want to call it). We should be praising God in corporate worship. We should be studying God’s word with our peers. We should be serving the church some how. All as a lifestyle rather than as something we do on occasion or even most of the time.
Do not run to God when feast time comes around and neglect him throughout the year. Do not cry out to God at retreats, or camps, or seminars, or Christmas eve services and ignore him in your daily and weekly routines. Make following God a lifestyle. God called his people in Exodus to “above all remember the Sabbath.” Remember the Sabbath, join in fully with a church.
John-David M. Culbertson 