Thinking About Time Rightly: the Fourth Commandment

The fourth commandment has generated a lot of controversy, both in our Lord's Day and in our own. There are those who would dispense with it altogether, saying that every day is now holy, while others go to the opposite extreme, generating a new Pharisaism.  If we get this day wrong, it shows that there is something wrong in our relationship with the Lord, and we will miss out on the benefits that the Lord intends us to have.
 
The Sabbath is a holy day, set apart at Creation. It gives us a structure and framework for our time.  Keeping the Sabbath day helps us to keep the first commandment of putting God first in our lives.  It should be a day to destroy idols.  The fact that the Lord's Day is now the first day of the week (in honour of the Lord's resurrection) makes it more forward looking than the old Sabbath - we take the blessings of the first day into the week ahead.

Main Headings:
1: Organising our time, organising our souls
2: Do no work
3: The Sabbath day is an act of faith