Have you ever had trouble with the Fourth Commandment? That’s the one that says, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). For years I had difficulty with this because I couldn’t see its relevance in daily life. All the other commandments are constant, but this one appears to apply only on Sundays.
The commandment goes on to say that nobody is to do any work on the Sabbath, including servants and work animals (Exodus 20:9, 10). I reasoned that this weekly day off was essential for the overall benefit of the individual and society, but that did not explain the reason for this commandment from a spiritual point of view. Even the idea that we should reverence God every day didn’t help, because that didn’t seem to be what the commandment was actually saying.
Then, not long ago, the Christian Science Bible Lesson for the week dealt with the Ten Commandments, and it included the last verse of the Fourth Commandment, which reads, “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” (Exodus 20:11). Although I had read that verse many times before, at last the whole thing suddenly clicked into place.
