"My Holy Day"

“If because of the Sabbath, you turn your foot
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable,
And honor it, desisting from your own ways,

From seeking your own pleasure
And speaking your own word,
Then you will take delight in the LORD,
And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Isaiah 58:13-14 (NASB)

Have you ever gone to church and not liked the way the music sounded, the set up of the sanctuary, how someone sang, the songs that were sung, though there were of sound doctrine? Have you ever left, not feeling like you got personal advantage from the worship? Have many times does a congregation split because they can’t agree on the color of the carpet, or what to paint the walls?

How often do we make church about ourselves? When did God’s house, God’s Holy day, become about us?

How often do we brush Sunday’s off, going to church only to satisfy our conscience, and continue our day with our typical daily business? How often do we take a Sabbath? Isn’t the Sabbath a whole day? God didn’t only take the morning off, did He?

God doesn’t want us to use His Holy Day for personal advantage. But, wouldn’t shopping, watching the football game, doing homework, working on Sunday…wouldn’t that all be done for personal gain?

Many arguments could come out of these questions, but I don’t want that. Nothing good comes out of arguing. I am not accusing anyone. I am guilty. I just want to introduce these questions, and let you and myself think about them, looking to this passage in Isaiah, seeking God for the answers.

I do know that from these verses, God promises an awesome experience with Him when we cease from our own way of personal advantage, stop seeking our own pleasure, and discontinue from speaking our own words. When we take delight on the Lord all day, He will be pleased.
God said so, not me.

"If you watch your step on the Sabbath
and don't use my holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
God's holy day as a celebration,

If you honor it by refusing 'business as usual,'
making money, running here and there—
Then you'll be free to enjoy God!
Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob."
Yes! God says so!

Isaiah 58:13-14 (The Message)

Bible Study - Mark 16:1-6

Read Mark 16:1-6


1. What was it that Mary, Mary, and Salome were doing the morning after the Sabbath had past?

2. Why do you think that they were going to do this?

3. According to verse three what was it that they were saying to one another as they were on their way to the tomb?

4. What word best describes to you what they were thinking at this time?

5. When they got there what two things did they see and what was their reaction to them?

6. What did the angel say to them?

7. Have you ever doubted that the words of Jesus would come true?

8. Think of an example in your life when you wondered if the promises that God has made to you in His Word would come true or not and what was the result of that situation?

9. Are you going through a time in your life right now where you are wondering of what Jesus has said is going to come to pass? Or maybe you don’t really have a clue about what is going on in your life right now, just like Mary, Mary, and Salome. They didn’t quite understand what Jesus had been talking about when He said that He would be put to death and then rise again from the dead three days later, but it did come to pass nonetheless. The same is true for you today. The promises that God gives to us in His word will come to pass. You may not understand what is taking place in your life right now and are wondering what you are going to do, but just as it was that day that Jesus rose again from the dead, so it will be in your life as well. What Jesus has said He will do, He will do. His Word cannot fail and thus you can put your hope and trust in our God of faithfulness. And when that day comes to pass when God’s Word comes to pass, we need not be alarmed, but instead we can rejoice and be thankful that it came to pass just as He said it would.

by Justin Kantonen
originally posted July 2008