Article March 11, 1996 Issue

How can I "rest" on the Sabbath?

Evelyn Whitfield

The Fourth Commandment—I have felt a curiosity and an uneasiness about it.

What does it say? "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." Then the instructions follow: "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it" (Ex. 20:8–11).

I take the Ten Commandments seriously. It is a sin to commit adultery, to steal, lie, kill, covet, dishonor our parents; we have one God, and do not worship or bow down to "graven images," or take God's name in vain. But do I keep the Sabbath? I wondered. How does one "break" the Sabbath? Well—what is the Sabbath anyway?

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