Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Phillipian 2:3
God planned and strategized that the human family unit would remain unmolested by Satan's destructive power in giving us the Sabbath at the end of every work week. "The Sabbath and the family were alike instituted in Eden, and in God's purpose they are indissolubly linked together." Education P. 250. 2. It wasn't God's original plan for women to work in jobs that would limit them from being the best mothers to their little ones. He made wives to be queens of the home so that they would be amazing lovers, capable spiritual assistants, and socio-emotional companions for their husbands while being thoughtful and resourceful architects of their children's character, helping them to be princes and princesses, candidates for God's kingdom.
Neither was it God's plan for fathers to be gone on endless business trips or work super long hours. This routine could lead to the detriment of being without the cover of their wives and children... which could lead to satanic agents and unwanted guests entering the family circle. Husbands and fathers were installed in the roles of kings and priests of their households. Throughout the week, they were to conduct their secular affairs for the sustenance of their families, but every Friday evening, before sunset, they were to put on priestly robes and minister to both God and their families. Every day fathers were to lead in family devotions, but especially on Sabbaths were they to take their jobs more seriously to bind their wives and children to themselves. This loving union would then point their wives to their heavenly Husband and their children to their heavenly Father as their source of blessings, therefore creating a nurturing six-link chain of love, bonding the family on earth with heaven.
The Sabbath is the most selfless and liberating day of the week! It promotes kindness and a sense of "esteeming others better than themselves" Phillipian 2:3. We place the needs of God and others above our own. Hence, it is a constant reminder of what we should be doing each day of the week, therefore bringing the spirit of the Sabbath into our everyday life. It calls for husbands and wives, fathers, mothers, and children to put aside domestic, secular, and scholarly affairs to deliberately invest in heaven and therefore the strengthening of their home fort.
But sin and self-worship have altered God's plans, temporarily. "Often the father hardly sees the faces of his children throughout the week. He is almost wholly deprived of the opportunity for companionship or instruction." Education p. 250. 2. Imagine living in today's version of the family where so many things are helter-skelter: single parenting, divorcees, adultery, homosexuality, transgenderism, bestiality, mothers working long hours outside the home and inside the home, and then the less thought of man-planned singlehood. We should look no further as to the reasons our societies are in trouble. Thank God, that He left us a buffer system in His word to help us to thwart the plans of the enemy. Lest anyone should be discouraged from God's ideal of marriage or even starting a family...God gave a solution for preserving marriage and families which is forever linked with the Sabbath! "But God's love has set a limit to the demands of toil. Over the Sabbath, He places His merciful hand. In His own day, He preserves for the family opportunity for communion with Him. Education p. 250. 2. The Bible says it this way:
... If thou turn away thy foot from... doing thy pleasure on my
holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord,
honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee
to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the
heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it. Isaiah 58: 13,14.
God promises that as you and I turn (that is obedience) from our self-worship (our own pleasures) on His Sabbath and spend time with Him and our families, He would bless us tremendously. He offers in Sabbath observance, health benefits for our bodies when we obey God's way: mental, spiritual, and physical reset that massively recharges the entire electrical circuits of the brain, which is the powerhouse and commander of all body systems.
Don't forget but remember to always gather these forget-me-nots as reminders of God's conditional blessings based on lovingly obeying His way of preserving you individually, and your family each week. Have a great Sabbath and a beautiful week! (Click this link to read Forget Me Not, Part One)
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