Focus: The 7th Day Blessing

Text: Gen.2:3

"And God BLESSED the SEVENTH DAY and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."

We have seven days of the week, and of all the days it is the seventh day that God blessed and set apart. God made the seventh day uncommon. He made it holy. He made it unique - awesomely different.

*It's a blessed day

It's interesting to know that no other day was blessed by God but the seventh day. Interestingly too, the week would never be complete without the seventh day. Seven is the perfect number and the seventh day perfects or completes the whole week.

Since no other day was blessed but the seventh day, it means we need to practice the sabbath and take its blessing into the rest of the week to achieve good results. God created the man and blessed him, and He blessed the seventh day and made it holy. So the rest of the days need the blessing of the seventh day. As the blessed man practices the blessed sabbath, he takes the blessing into his days of work.

*It's a day of the Lord

The seventh is the sabbath of the Lord. (Ex.20:10). It's the day that the Lord has made for joy and gladness.

The seventh day is designed for worship; the six days are designated for work.

It's more than a day for leisure and pleasure; it's a day for worship. It's more than a holiday; it's a holy day.

Amazingly, worship and work are inseparable. To separate them is to invite trouble. The seventh day is not only blessed; it is made holy (Ex.20:11). If we truly practice the sacredness of the seventh day, God makes the six-day period to yield more for the no-work day. God says, "See, for that the LORD hath GIVEN you the sabbath, therefore he GIVETH you on the sixth day THE BREAD OF TWO DAYS; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day" (Ex.16:29). God made the people gather more on the sixth day against the seventh day. 

*It's a special day

The sabbath is God's GIFT to man, and He provides for it.

The seventh day is not for work, but for rest. It is a day to rejuvenate and recover energy for productive labor. Even God refreshed Himself on the seventh day (Ex.31:17). And the word 'refreshed' means to breathe - to take in fresh air. On the sabbath we medicate the soul through meditation and reflection. The sabbath is for prayer - interaction with God and intercession for man (Act.16:13). The seventh day is called the sabbath of the LORD, and in it, even slaves and strangers take a break and breathe in fresh air (Ex.20:10).

The seventh day is a day to hear the voice of God afresh (Ex.24:16). Luke says, "And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God" (Act.13:44).

*It's a day of miracle

Jesus Christ, being the Lord of the sabbath, worked miracles on the sabbath, and He said that "it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days" (Mt.12:12). He cast out an unclean spirit from a man on the sabbath and amazed the people (Mk.1:25,27). He healed a man who had a paralyzed hand on the sabbath (Mk.3:5). Jesus Christ set a woman free, and then said, "And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?" (Lk.13:17). As we practice the sabbath of the Lord, let's be prepared to experience the miraculous from the Lord of the sabbath. He will cure and make us every whit whole (Jh.5:9,10; 7:23). He will restore our vision (Jh.9:14). There's a miracle for everyone who keeps the sabbath.

The blessedness of the seventh day will surely rub off on the rest of the week. God will make your six-day labor productive on account of the seventh day blessing. Worship impacts positively and supernaturally on our work even as our work is done in the spirit of worship to the Lord.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter