Pray continually, especially for the people you'd like to pray for the least! Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 104 Q. What is God’s will for you in the fifth commandment? A. That I honor, love, and be loyal to my father and mother and all those in authority over me; that I obey and submit to them, as is proper, when they correct and punish me; and also that I be patient with their failings— for through them God chooses to rule us. Summary There's a ton of theology going on in this short passage! Let's begin with the opening imperative, where Paul distinguishes between four different ways of praying: petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving. This doesn't mean that every time you pray you need to check off all four of these boxes, rather the point here is to be praying often - continually, even, as Paul mentions in 1 Thes. 5:17. Pray in every situation that you find yourself in. It's quite natural to pray for yourself and those close to you, and you should! It's not that you need to pray in order to convince God to do something about the situations you bring to Him, rather the more often you Acknowledge who God is and Align your life with His will, the more likely you will Ask for the things God wants for you. But Paul here commands you to pray for the very people we often pray for the least: "kings and all those in authority." In our situation this obviously includes the President and the Governor and other politicians, but it also includes your parents, employer, church council, teachers, landlord, and a host of other people who God has vested His authority in to help structure your life; the very people that He commands you to honor in the fifth commandment. Dig Deeper Perhaps one of the reasons it's so hard to pray for people who have authority over us is the underlying assumption that since they are at a higher station in life, they must have it made. What do they need prayers for? They've already made it! Plus, they often just seem like pompous jerks so often! But as we noticed the other day, very few people exercise absolute authority in life. A person might exercise authority in one sphere, but is dependent and subservient in other areas. It's quite likely that even though you are under the authority of far more people than you like, you also have been given authority in other realms. You probably know how hard it is to make decisions that affect others! How comforting would it be to know those people were praying for you, even as you make decisions they might not initially like? So extend that same courtesy to those in authority over you, whether you like them or not. Pray for God's blessing in every area of their life. When things go well for them, things will likely go well for you also, so that all "may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness (v2)." But pray especially that they may come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. When you pray that, you're praying a prayer that's aligned with God's will, since He wants all people to reach up to Him for their salvation. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our God and Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of truth; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for the people He exercises His authority through in your life. Pray that things will go well for them and especially that they will know salvation; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1 John 2

Even the sinless Son of God was difficult to raise at times. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 104 Q. What is God’s will for you in the fifth commandment? A. That I honor, love, and be loyal to my father and mother and all those in authority over me; that I obey and submit to them, as is proper, when they correct and punish me; and also that I be patient with their failings— for through them God chooses to rule us. Summary I've never 'lost' any of my children before, but there were prolonged times where I didn't exactly know where they were. It's a very disconcerting feeling to suddenly realize the gravity of the situation when I finally notice the house has been quieter than normal and it's been quite awhile since I've seen them (especially when mom will be back at any moment and will not be happy to find out her children are unaccounted for). So I would imagine that Joseph and Mary would have gladly supplied Luke with hundreds of other anecdotes from Jesus' adolescent years besides this one which seems to picture them as incompetent parents who went an entire day before they realized they had no idea where their oldest child was, and then when they finally found him, "did not understand what he was saying to them (v50)." Mary and Joseph are just as human as the rest of us, so their instinct was to blame everybody but themselves. They were probably pretty upset with these 'brilliant' temple scholars who let this twelve year old hang around for four days without any parental consent. These same parents who witnessed the miracles on Christmas morning firsthand are now pretty upset with the same boy the angels had sung about for "treating them like this (v48)." At twelve years old, Jesus is only one year away from legally being considered an adult in this society. He's likely experiencing the same teenage angst common to boys his age, and He's just discovered His "Father's business (v49)," and He's completely fascinated by it. So Jesus likely wasn't too pleased to see mom and dad come storming into the lecture hall either (remember, it's not sinful to be upset). Dig Deeper If anything this little insight into Jesus' childhood is comforting, to know that all children - even the sinless Son of God - are difficult to raise at times, and than even the woman most highly favored by God (Luke 1:28) was flummoxed by maternal frustration. So if you ever have been or are now irritated by your kids, you're in good company. But it's the way that both Jesus and Mary react to this situation that draws our attention today. Jesus, who's just discovered His purpose, talent and passion, humbly honors these parents He's suddenly outgrown. Luke captures the moment with a perfect word: Jesus was "obedient," which literally translated means Jesus put Himself under, or submitted Himself to His parents. In other words, Jesus remained anchored to them. Mary doesn't stay angry for long either. She regains her perspective, and quietly "treasured all these things in her heart (v51)." Because He honored His parents, even in their less than stellar moments, Jesus received the blessing His Father had promised long before through Moses, that "it may go well with" those who obey the fifth commandment (Deut. 5:16). AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who calls you into His house just as He did with His Son; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for your parents, and pray that you can submit to them even when you'd rather go your own way, just as Jesus did. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1 John 1

You likely are in authority over some and in submission to others. Humble yourself before the Lord in both roles. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 104 Q. What is God’s will for you in the fifth commandment? A. That I honor, love, and be loyal to my father and mother and all those in authority over me; that I obey and submit to them, as is proper, when they correct and punish me; and also that I be patient with their failings— for through them God chooses to rule us. Summary This famous account of David being confronted with his sin makes for an excellent model for how parents ought to discipline as well as how children ought to submit themselves to that discipline. Remember what we were reminded of yesterday, that the fifth commandment obligates us to not only honor our parents, but all those in authority over us. King David is a powerful, rich and very well established monarch, and normally men in his position are above the law and able to do as they please. The fact that David humbled himself before Nathan is a tremendous example of how even people and institutions who have authority over some spheres of life must submit themselves in other spheres. Parents have authority over their children, but must submit to the government and the Church. The Church must submit itself to the Lord and, to a much lesser extent, the government. The government, in an ideal world at least, submits itself to the people and to a lesser degree, the Church. In this way, everybody who has authority must also simultaneously be in submission. Ultimately, like David, we must recognize that all authority is delegated by the Lord, so all submission is ultimately to Him. It's likely that David felt internal guilt for the sins he had committed, as he writes about it so poignantly in Psalm 51. Even so, the initial inclination of most of us when we're called out for something we instinctively knew was wrong is to deny we did it or make excuses for why we did it. Yet David does none of that. We're so used to seeing those with power squirm their way out of trouble when they've been caught red handed, but David instantly and genuinely confesses his sin against the Lord. Dig Deeper Nathan provides a beautiful example of how to discipline those you've been given authority over. He responds to God's call to insert himself in a very awkward and potentially dangerous situation to confront sin (this is a call we all have to one degree or another). He doesn't maliciously attack or impugn David's character, but instead he winsomely guides David into condemning himself. And he instantly communicates God's grace upon David's heartfelt repentance while at the same time holding David accountable for the awful consequences that come as a result of the sin. Keep both of these humble, godly men in mind as you exercise both authority and submission in your life. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who uses authority figures to call us out of our sinful ways; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for the examples of David and Nathan and pray that you will fulfil the roles God has given you in a godly way; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Titus 3

Learn how to deal with the toxic people in your life. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 104 Q. What is God’s will for you in the fifth commandment? A. That I honor, love, and be loyal to my father and mother and all those in authority over me; that I obey and submit to them, as is proper, when they correct and punish me; and also that I be patient with their failings— for through them God chooses to rule us. Summary In general, we're accustomed to the New Testament reducing the burden of the law upon those of us who are in Christ. After all, Jesus met "the righteous requirement of the law" on our behalf and so "set us free from the law (Romans 8:2-4)." In looking through all of the strange requirements in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible), it's relieving to know that most of the instructions we read were meant to make Israel look separate and distinct from the people around her (the definition of holiness), and are not ongoing expectations for people made holy in Christ. But here, near the end of Paul's letter to the Ephesians, Paul does the opposite of what we've come to expect. Just like Jesus before him did in the Sermon on the Mount, Paul expands the implications of Old Testament law rather than restrict it. Not only must you honor (give weight to) your parents, you must honor all those in authority over you! Even slaves must respect their masters (most people were slaves of some sort in the first century, so the relationship is akin to our modern relationship between employee and employer). And the respect you show to those you work for must be sincere, not just the plastic smile you put on when you're being watched! This new understanding of the fifth commandment doesn't just have implications for children and employees! Those who have been given authority - fathers and masters (bosses/supervisors) - have even greater responsibility: Fathers must nourish their children in such a way they come to know the Lord and employers must honor God, who is Master over all. Dig Deeper Let's face it. Some people are way easier to honor than others. Some people treat you so well that honoring them is just a natural reaction. Wouldn't it be awesome if all your relationships were modeled after the fifth commandment and Ephesians 6? But they're not. It's so easy to let toxic people make you miserable. Sure, it's best to avoid toxic relationships whenever you can, but ultimately you're going to have to deal with people who drag you down, whether you work for them or they work for you (or whether you call them mom or dad, or they call you that). So hold tightly to the Holy Spirit's instruction in v7 and "serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people." It isn't easy to look past the miserable immediate situation and instead see the Lord, who seems all the more invisible in times like this, but it's worth it, because "the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do," no matter what role you play in the relationship! AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who defines goodness in His law and then rewards us for doing good; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the strength and patience to submit to those in authority over you, even when it seems impossible, and to nurture those you're responsible for; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Titus 2

You're commanded to be anchored to your parents (it's not as bad as it sounds). Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 104 Q. What is God’s will for you in the fifth commandment? A. That I honor, love, and be loyal to my father and mother and all those in authority over me; that I obey and submit to them, as is proper, when they correct and punish me; and also that I be patient with their failings— for through them God chooses to rule us. Summary The fifth commandment contains one short imperative: honor your father and your mother, and then it goes on to provide two huge benefits for keeping this command. As we've seen before, God's commands are not given to us as a 'keep them or else' type of coercion. Through His Law, our Father teaches us how to live well and enjoy life. But it's easy for us to get this imperative wrong, by reducing this command to a simple reminder to love, obey, submit to, and care for our parents. Certainly those are ways to properly keep the fifth commandment, but the word God chose here goes a step farther: the literal translation of 'honor' is to give weight to, or let your parents be heavy in your life. In other words, your life ought to be anchored by your parents. All of us have people that we truly love and care for, and even at times submit to and obey, without having tethered our entire life to their particular worldview. Although you may enjoy a warm relationship with such people, you live in a way contrary to their core beliefs, even if you outwardly conform your behavior when they're around. But you are not commanded to just have a friendly but shallow relationship with your parents. Rather, God has commanded you to honor your parents so as to keep you anchored to His ways. Notice the reward for keeping the fifth commandment is limited: God commands you to honor your parents so that it might go well with you, but God is not promising here that if you honor your parents things will go well for you in whatever you choose to do or however you choose to live. You are to honor your parents so that it might go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you. The Israelites who first heard this would have understood that God was commanding them to anchor themselves to the Promised Land they were heading towards by continuing to let their parents 'weigh them down' in that particular place as they lived godly lives just as previous generations had done. Jesus expanded the Promised Land from a particular geographical area to the spiritual Kingdom of Heaven. Dig Deeper This command to anchor yourself to your parents' core beliefs makes total sense for those of us whose parents had their worldview shaped by God's Word and acted consistently with it. But what if you didn't have these kinds of parents? Must you remain anchored to a sinking rock? Certainly not. The first seven verses of Psalm 95 are some of the most beautiful words in the Bible; you've likely sung and recited them often. But in verse 9, God breaks into this beautiful song of praise to order His people to do the opposite of what He set forth in His fifth commandment. He tells His people to cut themselves free of their fathers who had hardened their hearts generations before and rebelled against God. If your parents have set themselves against God, you still must honor them in the limited sense of loving, caring and even obeying and submitting to them when doing so isn't contrary to God's other commands. But your true Honor, that is, the true weight that anchors your life, must be your Heavenly Father. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is the ultimate parent we must honor so that it might go well with us in His Kingdom; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God if you can fully honor your parents as commanded, and pray that you will set a good example so that your children can fully keep this command as well; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Titus 1

True Sabbath rest comes by trusting the alive & active Word of God. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 103 Q. What is God’s will for you in the fourth commandment? A. First, that the gospel ministry and education for it be maintained, and that, especially on the festive day of rest, I regularly attend the assembly of God’s people to learn what God’s Word teaches, to participate in the sacraments, to pray to God publicly, and to bring Christian offerings for the poor. Second, that every day of my life I rest from my evil ways, let the Lord work in me through his Spirit, and so begin already in this life the eternal Sabbath. Summary In many ways, one of the greatest tragedies of Adam's fall into sin is that we've lost our ability to enjoy the true Sabbath rest with our Father that we were created for. The Bible, from the end of Genesis 3 onward, is the story of God slowly bringing His people back into this relationship. Nobody came closer to seeing this goal accomplished than did the Israelites who had been freed from their bondage in Egypt. God spoke directly to them from the mountain, but yet they ran away from His voice and sent Moses up to represent them. God came down and tabernacled amongst them, yet they continued to complain and rebel against Him. Their ongoing obstinance caused them to miss what God was bringing them towards: Sabbath rest in the Promised Land. Instead, God left them in perpetual labor: always wandering, yet never arriving anywhere. Although subsequent generations of Israelites ultimately made it to the Promised Land, their ability to enjoy Sabbath rest was thwarted by their inability to fully trust and obey their Father. But there's still hope. We read here that a true "Sabbath-rest for the people of God" remains. This hope becomes reality when you lay down your 'work' - your frenzied efforts to attain everything yourself - and begin to rest in the completed work of Jesus Christ, who like His Father before Him on the seventh day of creation, has rested from His labor. Dig Deeper The final two verses of this passage, which describe Scripture as being a double edged sword, are quite familiar and are often read on their own, somewhat detached from their context (we also read them earlier this year). But notice today that this double edged sword is the means by which you can enter this promised rest. This is why every Lord's Day, when the saints gather together for a small foretaste of the true Sabbath rest that Christ attained for us, we spend so much time reading, singing, praying and studying the living and active Word of God. Even though it's not always soothing as "it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, as it judges our thoughts and attitudes of our hearts," the Holy Spirit is using it to give us the immediate rest we need each week, and ultimately to bring us into God's eternal Sabbath rest. So "make every effort to enter that rest." Continue reading scripture every day and gathering with the Saints on the Lord's Day as often as possible. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is working all things out in order to restore your true Sabbath rest in Him; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that gathering with the saints to experience God's Word will be a top priority in your life; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 2 Timothy 4

You're missing out on blessings because you're too tired to rest. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 103 Q. What is God’s will for you in the fourth commandment? A. First, that the gospel ministry and education for it be maintained, and that, especially on the festive day of rest, I regularly attend the assembly of God’s people to learn what God’s Word teaches, to participate in the sacraments, to pray to God publicly, and to bring Christian offerings for the poor. Second, that every day of my life I rest from my evil ways, let the Lord work in me through his Spirit, and so begin already in this life the eternal Sabbath. Summary As Reformed people, we're used to pointing to a specific chapter and verse in the Bible as the foundation for every belief and practice we have. This is a good thing! We're people who firmly stand on the Word of God so that we don't get "blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming (Ephesians 4:14)." So it may seem odd that we don't have a specific Biblical command one of our bedrock practices - to rest on the first day of the week, rather than the seventh day of the week as God demonstrated after creation, a pattern modeled by His covenant people for thousands of years. But the fourth commandment only stipulates that people follow a pattern of six days of labor followed by a Sabbath day on the seventh; it never specifies whether that day of rest ought to be the first, third or last day of the week according to a calendar. But we do have Biblical grounds to stand on for designating the first day of the week as our day of worship. Granted, these grounds we read here in 1 Corinthians 16 are not as prominent and glorious as our scriptural proof we have for our doctrines of grace, but they're solid none the less. Just as the Israelites followed a pattern set for them, so do we. The point of today's passage is not necessarily to codify Sunday as the day of worship, it's to emphasize the need to take collections for the Church in an orderly and consistent way. Paul tells the Corinthians (and subsequently us) to take that collection each time they come together to meet for worship - on the first day of every week. This isn't the only clue that the New Testament gives us that from the earliest days of the Church, the designated meeting day was Sunday. But why this shift? It's because of what happened on the first day of the week two thousand years ago: the central event in all of history and the source of all of our hope and joy: our Savior stepped out of the grave, having conquered sin and death. From that day forward, Christians have been meeting together on what John designated as the Lord's Day (Rev. 1:10). Dig Deeper The sad reality is that the worship in far too many North American churches has become anemic, tired, and completely lacking in energy. Certainly there's lots of reasons for this, but one reason that's becoming clearer to me is that we've conflated the concepts of Sabbath and the Lord's Day. Now certainly there's rest to be found as God's people gather to unload the burden of their sin and be comforted by the grace found in His Word. Our activities on Sunday afternoon ought to be noticeably slower paced than the other days of the week; many of us look forward to a nap after church. Our catechism is right to refer to the Lord's Day as a day of rest. But it's a festive day of rest. We've seen this past week that we're the ones who are blessed as we gather to worship God. That blessing fully comes by grace alone, but it takes hard work to fully appreciate the benefits of this blessing. The more time and energy (= work) you put into reading, singing, praying and listening to God's Word, the more blessing you will receive. It takes lots of hard work to "maintain the gospel ministry and education for it" as the Catechism reminds us. The fourth commandment requires you to labor for six days and then rest. This does not mean "do your own stuff for six days and then get all of your rest in the pew on the seventh (or skip the pew altogether)." You know this doesn't work, and if you're exhausted all the time, this is probably why. Try following the pattern we looked at earlier this week in which your day of rest begins already on Saturday (remember - it's called Sabado in Spanish) so that you're rested and ready to do the hard but holy work of worshipping God on the Lord's Day (Domingo) and see how much more energy you have after a couple of weeks of this pattern. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who has commanded us to care for and support the Lord's people; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God for the resolve to change your weekly pattern so you have the energy you need to properly rest on the Lord's Day. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 2 Timothy 3

Will your Lord's Day activities make you even more tired, or will they bring you joy and delight? Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 103 Q. What is God’s will for you in the fourth commandment? A. First, that the gospel ministry and education for it be maintained, and that, especially on the festive day of rest, I regularly attend the assembly of God’s people to learn what God’s Word teaches, to participate in the sacraments, to pray to God publicly, and to bring Christian offerings for the poor. Second, that every day of my life I rest from my evil ways, let the Lord work in me through his Spirit, and so begin already in this life the eternal Sabbath. Summary Early in Jesus' ministry with His disciples, the Pharisees think they've trapped Jesus in a 'gotcha' moment because He and the disciples picked a few heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath. Jesus rejects their man-made rules, famously telling them that "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27)." Because the New Testament doesn't give a particular list of do's and don'ts as to how Christians ought to observe the Sabbath, it might be tempting after reading Jesus' reply to conclude that you can do whatever you like on the Sabbath day since it was made for you. But such a conclusion would be a costly mistake. There are multiple, and often conflicting, Christian perspectives on how the Sabbath ought to be kept, even within Reformed circles. But our passage today makes clear that only those who "do not go their own way, and do not do as they please, or speak idle words" will truly benefit from this gift God has given to us. Certainly, the Sabbath was given to us that we might "find our joy," but you won't find that joy "from doing as you please on God's holy day," rather, you'll "find your joy in the Lord." Dig Deeper What's your attitude regarding Sunday? Do you dread going to church, wishing you could spend your time on things that seem more enjoyable to you? Do you go to church simply out of obligation, since that's what you've done every Sunday since the day you were born? Are you looking forward to a day of genuine rest, or do you plan to fill it with so many activities that you'll be left more tired on Monday morning than what you were Friday afternoon? Align your life with what God says here through Isaiah. Call "the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable." What mental, physical and spiritual adjustments must you make in order for you to honestly be able to look forward to the Lord's Day in this way? Whatever changes you need to make will be worth it, for look at what your God promises those who find their joy in Him by keeping the Sabbath: He will "cause you to ride in triumph... and feast on your inheritance." God seeks to give you these gifts as you "attend the assembly of God's people to learn what God's Word teaches, to participate in the sacraments, to pray to God publically, and to bring Christian offerings to the poor (HC QA 103)." You're likely reading this at the halfway point of the week. Start praying now that you will eagerly anticipate the coming Lord's Day and pray that God will help you do whatever you must in order to make the Sabbath your joy and delight. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who invites us to find our joy in Him; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you can let go of your desire to "do as you please" on the Lord's Day so that you can begin to "delight" in meeting with the saints and truly find joy as you rest in God's promises; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 2 Timothy 2

You were created to worship. But don't trust your instinct as to how to worship. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 103 Q. What is God’s will for you in the fourth commandment? A. First, that the gospel ministry and education for it be maintained, and that, especially on the festive day of rest, I regularly attend the assembly of God’s people to learn what God’s Word teaches, to participate in the sacraments, to pray to God publicly, and to bring Christian offerings for the poor. Second, that every day of my life I rest from my evil ways, let the Lord work in me through his Spirit, and so begin already in this life the eternal Sabbath. Summary Any astute twelve year old Biblical scholar will quickly point out that nowhere in the ten commandments is weekly church attendance mandated for Christians. And they're right! It's not really 'commanded' anywhere in the Bible! It doesn't need to be. It's been said that man is incurably religious, a phrase I don't like because it makes religion seem like a disease, but which nonetheless accurately describes the innate drive seen in that people in all times and in all places have always worshipped something. So God didn't need to issue a command to attend religious gatherings at specific times in the week, because we do that instinctively (which is why so many people are so miserable in our exceptionally secularized society since they're suppressing a deeply embedded instinct to worship). What God needed to command, and command often, was that His people not worship like their pagan neighbors. Sin has twisted the innate desire to seek and worship God that we were created with and turned it into a driving desire to do as we see fit (v8). The Canaanites were wicked and evil, but they were quite religious. God had created them as well in His image, but that image was barely flickering, and their instinct to worship was no longer seeking God, but had become fixated on deifying nature (that is, making natural elements and processes into gods) and was highly sexualized in its expression. Do not worship the LORD your God in their way (v4). The first step necessary to properly fulfill your instinct to worship is to separate yourself from the world, as God commanded His people Israel. Dig Deeper Quoting a passage from Deuteronomy in order to demonstrate the need for Christians to gather for corporate worship on the Lord's Day may seem a bit anachronistic (out of place). After all, didn't Christ's sacrifice on the cross eliminate the need for all of the animal sacrifices mentioned in this passage? Didn't Jesus set us free from the law? The sacrifices we just read about were not sacrifices of atonement meant to symbolize payment for sin. God's people were to regularly gather to offer all sorts of sacrifices, tithes and offerings meant to show their thankfulness and to acknowledge God's claim upon their lives. This command has not been set aside by Christ's victory; in fact if anything, the need for you to demonstrate your gratitude and commitment to God has intensified! This is one of the primary reasons you are called to gather with the saints each Lord's Day. The Tabernacle worship God commanded for His people broadened out over time into weekly gatherings in local synagogues. The early Christians followed this model and established the weekly Lord's Day services that we continue to this day. While it is admittedly tough to cite a specific Biblical command for you to come to church this coming Lord's Day, it would be even tougher for you to page through the entire Bible and then formulate a good excuse for why you don't need to. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who calls us to gather our families to worship and rejoice with all of God's people on the Lord's Day; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the strength to fight temptation and fulfill your instinct to worship the Lord your God as He has commanded. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 2 Timothy 1

God commanded you to rest, but not necessarily on the Lord's Day. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 103 Q. What is God’s will for you in the fourth commandment? A. First, that the gospel ministry and education for it be maintained, and that, especially on the festive day of rest, I regularly attend the assembly of God’s people to learn what God’s Word teaches, to participate in the sacraments, to pray to God publicly, and to bring Christian offerings for the poor. Second, that every day of my life I rest from my evil ways, let the Lord work in me through his Spirit, and so begin already in this life the eternal Sabbath. Summary As we begin a week of contemplating what God's will for us is on the Sabbath Day, we have to begin with a reminder of exactly what the Sabbath Day is. To begin with, this version of God's Law here in Deuteronomy 5 helps illustrate that the concept that a day of rest is not an idea that originated with the ten commandments. Here God says, "Observe the Sabbath Day... as the LORD your God has [already] commanded you." There's never been a time in our history that we've not been obligated to stop and rest every seventh day, replicating the pattern God set for us in the creation week. Keeping the Sabbath Day means keeping it holy. The word holy at its core means separate; so the Sabbath Day must be markedly different than the other days of the week. Ironically one of the strongest imperatives in this command is to "labor and do all your work" in the six other days of the week, but then keep the seventh day separate by not doing any work, not only yourself, but by providing rest for all those you have authority over. It might seem that God contradicts Himself in stating the purpose of the Sabbath. Here in the Law, He states that the Sabbath is a day "to the LORD your God." But then Jesus says in the Gospels that "The Sabbath was made for man." While there is some tension in these statements, there's certainly no contradiction. In order to truly benefit from the Sabbath Day, which was made for you, you must keep the Sabbath dedicated to the LORD your God. This version of the commandment in Deuteronomy 5 also helps us understand the ultimate goal of the Sabbath: to be reminded that you've been set free by the "mighty hand and outstretched arm of God." Just as the Israelites were to reflect upon God freeing them from bondage in Egypt as they rested on the Sabbath, so you must reflect upon the freedom from sin won for you by Christ. Dig Deeper Make no mistake, going to church each week is hard work - especially for families with small children! Not only is it a battle getting the whole crew dressed and there on time, but then you're expected to sing energetically, pray fervently, and then studiously concentrate on a portion of ancient literature that's being presented. None of this seems conducive with the idea of a day of rest! The reality is many Christians are too wore out on Sunday morning to worship well. Often even the ones who are able to make it there don't have the energy required to fully participate in the 'service' (a word that seems contradictory to rest!). Part of our problem is that we've conflated the idea of Sabbath day of rest with what the catechism calls our festive day of rest. In other words, we go 150 miles per hour Monday through Saturday, not only doing all of our labor, but a thousand other things on the side. Unsurprisingly then on Sunday we have no energy for the festivities of corporate worship. Let's reclaim an idea that's been preserved in the Spanish language. For sure you must keep God's command to labor six days a week and rest the seventh, but let's redesignate Saturday (in Spanish it's Sabado - you can see the allusion to Sabbath) as a day to wind down our work activities and rest up for Domingo - the Lord's Day. This two-day pattern of rest is consistent with the Jewish Sabbath practices, which would begin the evening before. Begin your rest by winding down your activities already on Saturday afternoon so you have a full tank of energy for the Lord's Day, where your 'work' of reading, singing, praying and studying God's Word further energizes you for the week to come. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who brought us out of slavery to sin with an outstretched arm and mighty hand; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for commanding you to rest and pray that you'll prioritize your week in a way that's centered around being prepared to fully worship God on the Lord's Day. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1 Timothy 6