Devotional on Genesis 2 - The 7th Day or the 7th and 1st Days?

Scripture: Genesis 2:2-3

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Did you know that the ancient Jewish people only had a one-day weekend instead of two? How would you like that - going to work or going to school six days a week?

That's what the Jewish people did. The Hebrew Sabbath, or weekend, was only one day, Saturday. It wasn't until Christ rose on the first day of the week, Sunday, that Christians began observing a two-day Sabbath, or weekend.

In Genesis 2, God blessed us with a one-day weekend to give us a rest for our physical, mental, and emotional health. We need to take a break from everything else we were doing that week and refresh ourselves.

With Christ's resurrection, it then became appropriate for us to celebrate the Lord's resurrection on Sunday, the day of the week that He rose from the dead. Taking a break on Saturday is for our physical, mental, and emotional health. Sunday is for our spiritual health.

And Sunday should be a celebration. Every week, we're celebrating what Christ did for us when He defeated death on our behalf. Don't skip that.

And don't miss out on the benefits of the weekend in general. If you're like me, you tend to want to keep busy and keep accomplishing things, whether it be for work or school or just things you need to get done around the house. But know that God has given us the weekend, and commanded us to observe the weekend, because He cares for us. He cares for us as whole persons - our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health - and has given us set times to renew and refresh each of those aspects of our being. That's what the weekend is for. God has ordered us to keep it holy for our own good.