Duty, Devotion, or Delight?

Efforts to preserve what people perceive as right practice on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11), whether traditions or restrictions of Pharisees or legalistic-minded Christians, have altered the focus of the Sabbath by requiring a standard of holiness the Fourth Word does not teach. The Sabbath has never been about personal preferences or righteous practices as the means to holiness. It’s about heart transformation week after week! 

The Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath twice (Mark 2:23-3:6), but neither plucking grain or healing a man’s withered hand constituted Sabbath-breaking. Jesus was not a Sabbath-breaker. He perfectly obeyed the Law and satisfied God’s holy requirements.