Call the Sabbath a Delight

I will admit that few topics have piqued my interest in the last couple years as much as the Sabbath principle. I just started reading Walter Chantry’s book, Call the Sabbath a Delight, and the introduction alone was enough to plunge me into the deep pool of conviction. He writes, “Whether or not people keep the Sabbath holy is not an incidental or insignificant matter. When God issued this fourth commandment he understood humanity much better than we do. Failure to practice this moral law is a root cause of moral decline, social disorder, and widespread human suffering. No successful recovery of mankind can be devised without the inclusion of the fourth commandment in the remedy” (12—italics mine). As you can see, he takes the Sabbath principle incredibly seriously.

However, I think he rightly notes that many Christians do not contemplate the moral law of God often enough, especially the honoring of the Sabbath. It is important for us to note that honoring this *day* (not two hours out of the day), is a moral precept right along with “You shall not murder.” It’s not just Chantry who takes the Sabbath seriously, it is God. But it seems so many of us have better things to do on the Sabbath, whether it’s getting household projects done, going to the beach (well maybe not in WI), sleeping all day, or, as Chantry also points out, we glue ourselves to the TV set on Sunday to watch sports, “Who has done more to destroy patters of worship than the professional athletes? You dare not say it again. Evangelicals themselves will fall all over one another to watch [sports] even on Sundays” (10).

A question Chantry asks is, “Is it practical to worship God for one whole day in each seven?” Or, as a pastor friend of mine often asks, “If there was a day set apart to worship God, a whole day, would you want it?” I fear for many the answer is just simply, “No.” We’ve grown bored with God, and we’ve grown bored with worship. We rush to church on Sunday mornings and rush to get home and identify ourselves once again with the unbelieving culture around us—there’s not much separate about Christians anymore these days. And Chantry cites this as one of the obvious reasons for the moral decadence in America. He says, “There can be no other answer to straighten out our crooked generation. Nothing but a weekly day of worship will begin to touch the ignorance which has gripped humanity. This alone, under God, can save families, churches, schools and governments from total moral collapse” (11).

How important is the Sabbath principle for you and your family? If you were asked the question, “Would you want to worship God for an entire day out of seven,” how would you answer? Is dishonoring the Sabbath one of the root causes of moral depravity in America, is it hurting families and churches?