Shabbat...................

In the beginning HASHEM blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.

The command to rest on Shabbat, the seventh day, is one of the Ten Commandments.

The word Sabbath comes from a word meaning cease, rest or be still.

Do you cease and rest on Shabbat? Are you still?

Did you ever wonder why HASHEM gave Shabbat to our Jewish people first?

Tell me have you ever seen another people with such shpilkes?

I am not saying shpilkes are bad.

We certainly get a lot done! We have Yiddisha kups and it seems like our Yiddisha kups are always, saying, "you must do this, you must do that"!

And such a sense of urgency, I think we were given high speed regulators.

HASHEM told us to rest on Shabbat from every kind of work that we do to make a living. In other words, don't do anything that can put gelt in your pocket!

On Shabbat, we are not to do our own pleasures.

HASHEM also told us not to carry anything unusually difficult to handle or heavy on the Shabbat!

When we keep Shabbat we learn why Friday is called the preparation day, even in the Brit Chadasha, and that a Shabbat nap is something to look forward to with joy!

Most importantly we become aware of HASHEM's goodness as we reflect on how only a good G-d would demand that we rest!

Yeshua said that Sabbath was made for man, and not man for Sabbath.

So, we Jewish people were the first ones to be given the gift of Shabbat, but did you know it was offered to other people also?

Did you know that in the book of Isaiah HASHEM talks about Yeshua, the Moshiach, Goyim and Shabbat in the same chapter?

In Isaiah we read where HASHEM says, "Keep ordinances and do righteousness, for my Yeshua is near to come and my righteousness will be uncovered.  Happy is the man who does this and the son of man who encourages it, who preserves the Sabbath without breaking it and keeps his hand from doing evil. (IFLS)

Yeshua, speaking of himself said, the son of man is Lord even of Shabbat. If Yeshua is your Lord, you should honor Shabbat and if you observe Shabbat, the Lord of Shabbat, Yeshua, should be your Lord.

Further on in the same chapter of Isaiah we read where HASHEM says, "And the foreigners who join themselves to HASHEM, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one who observes the Sabbath and keeps from polluting it, and holds tightly to my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer:

Psalm 95 is part of the Erev Shabbat liturgy. When speaking about Shabbat in the book of Hebrews, the author uses Psalm 95 to encourage us to keep the Shabbat.

He quotes Psalm 95 where it says that G-d said, "And in my anger, I swore that they would not enter my rest."

He then quotes Genesis where it says, concerning the seventh day, "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works."  Again quoting from Psalm 95, he says, "They will not enter my rest."  Today, if you hear God's voice, don't harden your hearts.  For if Y'hoshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later of another "day".

The author continues in his own words saying, "So there remains a Shabbat-keeping for God's people. For the one who has entered God's rest has also rested from his own works, as God did from his. Therefore, let us do our best to enter that rest; so that no one will fall short because of the same kind of disobedience.

See, the Word of God is alive! It is at work and is sharper than any double-edged sword—it cuts right through to where soul meets spirit and joints meet marrow, and it is quick to judge the inner reflections and attitudes of the heart.

Before God, nothing created is hidden, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account."

Maybe you need help keeping the Shabbat;why not call on Yeshua, the Lord of Shabbat, to help. Maybe you see no need to keep the Shabbat.  Perhaps you need to yield to Yeshua, the Lord of the Shabbat?

You can begin by asking the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, if Yeshua is the Moshiach of Israel.