1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian The Sabbath | Page 4

as well as the pursuit of pleasures that choke the Word of God and prevent it from being
fruitful(Luke 8:14).
Prayer Thought: At the beginning of this week commit yourself to open your heart to the
word of God. Ask the Lord to create within you a desire to do what is right in His sight. We
need to be willing to obey Him because we trust Him and believe in His perfect Holiness.

Tuesday
Isaiah 58:13
Genesis 2:3
Before looking at the Sabbath we need to note that God refers to it as “my holy day” in
Isaiah 58, and in Genesis 2:3 we read, “And God blessed the seventh day and made it
holy”. From the very beginning God declared the Sabbath to be “holy.” What does it mean
to be “holy”? The intrinsic idea of holiness in Hebrew has to do with that which is
absolute in terms of virtue or purity, that which is undefiled or tainted by any
impuritybecause it belongs to God. According to Hebrew scholars’ holiness is always
associated with God and He alone is truly holy. When something or someone is dedicated
to the exclusive service of God, such a thing or person becomes holy by association.
Holiness is required of everything used in the service of God. This is true of us as human
beings as well. “Without holiness,” Hebrews 12:14 tells us, “no one will see the Lord.”
Every utensil used in the Tabernacle (and later in the Temple) had to be made strictly
according Divine instruction, be consecrated to God and used exclusively in the worship
of God. It started in the realm of the secular but was consecrated to God and moved into
the realm of the sacred. If it was used for any secular purpose, its holiness was profaned.
The word profane simply means to drag something from the realm of the sacred into the
realm of the secular. That which is secular is not sinful or unclean. It is merely something
that we can use as we please. The problem comes when we take that which God has
declared to be holy and bring that down into the realm of the secular. In the King James
Version, Esau is called a “profane” person in Hebrews 12:16. This was because he
attached no value to his God-given birthright. When we attach no value to the things that
belong to God, we profane them. For example, God says that one tenth of the “first fruits
of our increase” b