“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

Mark 2:27

I grew up for many years in the Worldwide Church of God. Many mainline churches called it a cult. It wasn’t, but it was very legalistic. In fact, it was like being a Messianic Jew in the first centuries, while they were debating whether you had to become Jewish first to become a Christian.

We followed all the Jewish festivals and Sabbath. We had church on Saturdays. We didn’t celebrate Christmas or Easter because of their pagan roots, but celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover.

On the Sabbath, we rested. We weren’t supposed to do any work, just like the Bible said.

It’s hard for our culture to really rest. To breathe and relax, and turn off the radios, computers, and TVs. Sometimes though, it’s only by resting that we can “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10) But I have learned one thing, through leaving legalism behind. That is that when you do something, even if that something is resting… doing nothing… but you do it because you ought to do it, and not because of your love for God, out of His love for you… it’s not worthwhile. With God is all blessings, without God and through our own work is futility and frustration.