Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

I am reading the book of Isaiah this month and came across this passage today, fittingly on the Sabbath Day. I will post both the NIV and NLT translation.

"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)

“Keep the Sabbath day holy.
Don’t pursue your own interests on that day,
but enjoy the Sabbath
and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day.
Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day,
and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.

Then the Lord will be your delight.
I will give you great honor
and satisfy you with the inheritance
I promised to your ancestor Jacob.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
(Isaiah 58:13-14 NLT)

Some may say that keeping the Sabbath Day holy is no longer necessary because Christ has come to wipe away legalism and he himself has become our Sabbath Rest. The Apostle Paul writes to the church at Colossae regarding this issue of legalism, saying, "Let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ." (Colossians 2:16-17 NKJV). For those in Christ, the handwriting of requirements has been taken away, being nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:13-15 NKJV). So how do we reconcile the call for Sabbath observance in the Old Testament and the wiping out of this requirement in the New Testament?

Simple. All through the Old Testament, we read account after account of God's people breaking His commandments. Under the curse of Adam's sin, the people could not keep the requirements of the law. This is why God sent His Son, the Messiah, by His mercy and grace, to save and redeem us. Did Christ come to abolish the law, so that we no longer have to be mindful of God's commandments? By no means! "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:17-20 NKJV). The Son's heart and will is consistent with the Father's heart and will and does nothing to contradict His. What our Lord Jesus did was wipe out the guilty charge that was placed upon us, removing the massive indictment against us by placing it upon Himself on the cross. Only He could fulfill such a task. Now, we are no longer judged by whether we keep the Sabbath Day or not because that requirement has been fulfilled by Christ. However, is it still in the heart of God that we keep the Sabbath Day holy?

Yes! The Sabbath Day is a special day that God has set aside, that we may be especially blessed on that day. We are blessed when we mindfully set aside our selfish desires and instead set our desires on honoring Him. Then, we will find our joy in the Lord and be blessed by Him. As Paul stated, the substance is not the Sabbath Day, but it is Christ. And since Christ is risen and always present and with us, even residing in us, let not the Old Testament blessing be found only on one day of the week, but for all days, forever unto eternity.