"And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
So the people rested on the seventh day."
Exodus 16:28-30
This is part of the story of getting manna from heaven. The Lord, through Moses, told the people to gather the bread of two days (twice as much) on the day before the Sabbath and that it wouldn't get gross and wormy like it usually did if you kept it for a day. But (as is usual with us) the people didn't listen and went out to gather, and none was there. So, in a way, the people didn't have any reason to work on the Sabbath, which probably helped with the observance.
In our day I think that we do similarly... we automatically go into the mode that is normal for every day, and pick up where we left off yesterday. But the whole idea of the Sabbath is to make a *difference* between that and normal life. To take a step back from mundane things and to focus on the Lord, and how we can improve our lives and come closer to him. This Sabbath, let's make sure that we do things differently. Let's gather the bread of two days before the Sabbath so that we are prepared to focus. Let's remember that the Sabbath is the Lord's, and that we should be engaged in activities that would please him rather than just doing whatever it is that we do every other day and pleasing ourselves.
See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
So the people rested on the seventh day."
Exodus 16:28-30
This is part of the story of getting manna from heaven. The Lord, through Moses, told the people to gather the bread of two days (twice as much) on the day before the Sabbath and that it wouldn't get gross and wormy like it usually did if you kept it for a day. But (as is usual with us) the people didn't listen and went out to gather, and none was there. So, in a way, the people didn't have any reason to work on the Sabbath, which probably helped with the observance.
In our day I think that we do similarly... we automatically go into the mode that is normal for every day, and pick up where we left off yesterday. But the whole idea of the Sabbath is to make a *difference* between that and normal life. To take a step back from mundane things and to focus on the Lord, and how we can improve our lives and come closer to him. This Sabbath, let's make sure that we do things differently. Let's gather the bread of two days before the Sabbath so that we are prepared to focus. Let's remember that the Sabbath is the Lord's, and that we should be engaged in activities that would please him rather than just doing whatever it is that we do every other day and pleasing ourselves.
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