The NIV 365 Day Devotional

What Does the Sabbath Remind Us?

In Romans 14:5–6, Paul speaks somewhat generically of a “day.” While the Sabbath is likely in view, so too are other sacred days, such as festivals and New Moon celebrations (Col 2:16–17). As person who was brought up Jewish, Paul was speaking of the Sabbath as Saturday, not Sunday, which is often referred to as the Lord’s Day in the New Testament. Today, most Christians think of the Sabbath as Sunday.

The whole point of Sabbaths and festivals like Yom Kippur was to remind people to set aside their own strivings for survival and remember that God is the one who sustains them. Perpetual reminders (weekly, monthly or yearly) are necessary because of the human propensity to forget. So no matter whether one goes to a worship service on Saturday evening or on Sunday morning, or whether one values Easter more than Christmas—all of these are to and for the Lord.

The main question we must ask ourselves is whether we are trusting in God all our days, since celebrating a Sabbath or festival is simultaneously a reminder of how we should live every day and a disclosure of how we have been living every day (Ro 14:8).

Taken from the NIV Upside-Down Kingdom Bible.