Daily worship is the foundation for a spiritual life. Sabbath brings the “real flavor” – the why we worship God daily: He is not only the Almighty Creator of the Universe but the One who loved and redeemed Earth.

We have already read Bible verses and diverse quotes that show us that the inner person is renewed day by day. This casts a clear light on the great importance of our daily personal connection with God.

KEEP NOTHING

The whole foundation for the worship service in the tabernacle was the morning and evening burnt offerings. On Sabbath there was an additional Sabbath burnt offering (Numbers 28:4,10). What importance did the burnt offering have? The scholar Fritz Rienecker answers that saying,

“The burnt offering represented the complete surrender of the sinner to the Lord. Here the person kept nothing for themselves, but rather everything belonged to God.” Fritz Rienecker, Lexikon zur Bibel (Wuppertal, 1964), S. 1017

“The hours appointed for the morning and the evening sacrifice were regarded as sacred, and they came to be observed as the set time for worship throughout the Jewish nation... In this custom Christians have an example for morning and evening prayer. While God condemns a mere round of ceremonies, without the spirit of worship, He looks with great pleasure upon those who love Him, bowing morning and evening to seek pardon for sins committed and to present their requests for needed blessings.” Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets (1890), p. 353

HOW IS THAT CONNECTED TO SABBATH?

“This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.” Numbers 28:10 NIV

Isn’t that interesting a special burnt offering for every Sabbath? Keeping the Sabbath Holy has to do with understanding God as the Creator and Holy, capable of blessing. The fourth commandment clearly says in the end, “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:11 NIV

The Sabbath keeps us in check with our priorities. For our personal worship to be real, authentic, and produce its fruit, we need to ask the essential question, Is God my priority?

The most important spiritual principle is, to give God priority over everything every day.

Our daily worship gives us the strength we need to face live daily, but that spiritual strength must be linked with the reason we worship, because the loving Creator of the Universe made all things with a purpose and after that he rested, blessed and made Sabbath holy.

The author Wayne Muller detects humanity’s issue with making work priority,

“We are expected to sacrifice more of our time to work, seeking more work, being on call for work, and recovering from overwork.” Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives, p.160

The Sabbath makes us more humans. It helps us to understand we are not the Creator with His unlimited power and wisdom. The same author points to the need of these creatures, children of the Creator living in this broken world, full of its limitations and insufficiencies,

“We do not feel how much energy we spend on each activity, because we imagine we will always have more energy at our disposal. This one little conversation, this one extra phone call, this one quick meeting, what can it cost? But it does cost, it drains yet another drop of our life. Then, at the end of days, weeks, months, years, we collapse, we burn out, and cannot see where it happened. It happened in a thousand unconscious events, tasks, and responsibilities that seemed easy and harmless on the surface but that each, one after the other, used a small portion of our precious life.” Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives, p.19

In this sense, Sabbath is necessary to differentiate Creator and creatures, and at the same time it points to our need to reconnect and reconcile with God, as He affirmed in Ezekiel 20:20 NIV,

“Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.”

QUESTIONS FOR MEDITATION & DEVOTION

1. What happens when you do daily worship?

2. What meaning did the burnt and daily offering bring to the life of the Israelites?

3. Why are priorities important? Can you define yours?

4. How can Sabbath help to define your priorities?

5. Why is it important to recognize the difference in between Creator and creatures?