WEDNESDAY

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 58:1-14

As Adventists, we love noticing how Sabbath is at the heart of the Ten Commandments, forming a celebratory connection between the first few that focus on honoring God, and the last few that emphasize how we treat others. On Sabbath, we celebrate that God is both the one who created us (Exodus 20:11) and the one who saves us (Deuteronomy 5:15). On Sabbath, we cease work, set aside the designations that divide us (gender, employment, social status, even family roles), and celebrate that we stand together equally as God’s children—loved for who we are, not for what we do or the position we hold. Sabbath is the day we celebrate the whole spectrum of what the Ten Commandments illustrate: loving God and loving people! In today’s passage, Isaiah describes how the Sabbath, in the midst of a fallen world, can become the point of celebration when we embrace what it looks like to live out loving God and loving people well, as a people who bring hope and healing to our world. As you listen to Isaiah’s description of this in today’s passage, consider the following:

• How does Isaiah describe the kind of disconnect that happens when we fail to realize that devotion to God cannot be separated from the way we treat people?

• How does Isaiah describe what genuine religious devotion looks like?

• How does Isaiah describe the results of this kind of religious devotion, both in terms of its impact on those around us and in our own lives as well?

• In the context of the rest of the chapter, what would “breaking the Sabbath,” “doing as you please,” or “going your own way” look like? (verse 13)

• How does the Sabbath represent all that this chapter has been talking about, and how is its celebration an expression of the healing and restoration described here?

• What new insights into the meaning and significance of the Sabbath do you find here?

Take a few moments to share with God in prayer what is on your heart as you reflect on today’s passage.