Saint Augustine, Book VIII Chapter 12, 2/3 down the first paragraph begin: “Somehow I flung myself down beneath a fig tree and gave way to the tears which now streamed from my eyes, the sacrifice that is acceptable to you. I had much to say to you, my God, not in these very words but in this strain: ‘Lord, will you never be content?’ (Psalm 6:3) ‘Must we always taste your vengeance? Forget the long record of our sins.’ (Psalm 79:5, 8) For I felt that I was still the captive of my sins, and in my misery I kept crying ‘How long shall I go on saying “tomorrow, tomorrow”? Why not now? Why not make an end of my ugly sins at this moment?’”

To which i thought as i read Augustine’s words; The heart felt plea of a man broken and seeking truth, wanting truth, desiring a life lived that pleases Elohim, our Father, through Yahoshua, His Son, the ONLY PATH, The Way, The Truth, and The Life. This is the broken and contrite spirit that Adonai desires, for it is in our emptiness that we are able to be filled. Remember, on this journey of life as we seek The Way, He has said, “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of Elohim rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6) “‘Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’ He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does Yahweh require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your Elohim.” (Micah 6:7, 8)

Augustine continues: “I was asking myself these questions, weeping all the while with the most bitter sorrow in my heart, when all at once I heard the singsong voice of a child in a nearby house. Whether it was the voice of a boy or a girl I cannot say, but again and again it repeated the refrain ‘Take it and read, take it and read’. At this I looked up, thinking hard whether there was any find of game in which children used to chant words like these, but I could not remember ever hearing the before. I stemmed by flood of tears and stood up, telling myself that this could only be a divine command to open my book of Scripture and read the first passage on which my eyes should fall. For I had heard the story of Antony, and I remembered how he had happened to go into a church while the Gospel was being read and had taken it as a counsel addressed to himself when he heard the words ‘Go home and sell all that belongs to you. Give it to the poor, and so the treasure you have shall be in heaven; then come back and follow me.’ (Matthew 19:21) By this divine pronouncement he had at once been converted to you.”

The more i read his words the more i resonate with them, with his heart, and emotion. i recall a time in a prayer chapel in which i had an encounter that cannot be easily explained yet is as simple to understand as ‘Take it and read, take it and read’. To which i did and in no less enthusiasm as Augustine pens, my life from that moment forward would have new meaning, new purpose, and new challenges. Yet all The Way my Savior leads me. So what did Augustine read that so impacted his life?

Augustine continues: “. . . continuing Paul’s Epistles. I seized it and opened it, and in silence I read the first passage on which my eyes fell: ‘Not in revealing and drunkenness, not in lust and wantonness, not it quarrels and rivalries. Rather, arm yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ [Adonai Yahoshua Messiah]; spend no more thought on nature and nature’s appetites.’ (Romans 13:13, 14) I had no wish to read more and no need to do so. For in an instant, as I came to the end of the sentence, it was as though the light of confidence flooded into my heart and all the darkness of doubt was dispelled.”

Augustine held to an eighth day sabbath or first of the week. He writes however, on the importance of observing the Sabbath-Day by stating: “Well, then, is it owing to the one precept about the Sabbath-Day, which is included in it, that the Decalogue is called ‘the letter that killeth?’ Because, forsooth, every man that still observes that day in its literal appointment is carnally wise, but to be carnally wise is nothing else than death? And must the other nine commandments, which are rightly observed in their literal form, not be regarded as belonging to the law of works by which none is justified, but to the law of faith whereby the just man lives? Who can possibly entertain so abused an opinion as to suppose that ‘the ministration of death, written and engraved in stone,’ is not said equally of all the Ten Commandments, but only of the solitary one touching the Sabbath-Day? (Written in his reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book VI-2)

So many throughout history have qualified the importance of ‘Remembering’ the Sabbath day as important as following any of the Ten Commandments. It really isn’t until more recently that the Sabbath day has become even a reproach to the Sunday morning followers of Jesus. The notion that any day is Sabbath now in Jesus is another cancer on the modern church. Although, many giants of the faith have made this statement they still adhered to a Sabbath day routine, which attempted to maintain the solemnity of the Sabbath itself. As i have ventured in my reading of Scripture the Sabbath day has jumped off the page because over and over again it was the most outward sign of being in covenant with Yahweh. You don’t wear your circumcision on the outside, no one see’s that but Elohim and your wife, but a Sabbath day is seen by all.

Calendar’s through time have changed but the people of Elohim (the Hebrew Nation known as Israel) have kept the seventh day. There are sects to this day that follow a new moon sabbath count for days, weeks, months and years. Yet the majority of the followers of The Way, have observed the present day calendar as a symbol, that although they live in the world, they are not part of the world. And as one must live within the society of exile they partake in a manner that gives Elohim the glory above local traditions of man. Hence my reason for observing a Saturday Sabbath over a Sunday one. For if it were so, it would be Sabbath for all children of Elohim.

A commandment so important that it is an eternal outward sign, like a wedding ring, of the covenant, and is highlighted out of the Ten with the word Remember, which means, ‘to mention, to record, to make a memorial, make remembrance, to be brought to remembrance, brought to mind;’ should make one pause as to how they are doing just that. How are you “Remember[ing] the Sabbath day, to keep it holy? Is it just a thought, a nice idea, a fulfilled sign?

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ‘Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of Yahweh your Elohim; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days Yahweh mad the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in the, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11

How does one ensure even his servant isn’t working? After Sunday service, he runs to the store. He might stop at the diner for lunch and then tip poorly. How can you say one ought to be in Church to hear the Word and be Saved? Yet, you still require them to serve you after not hearing a Word that was said from the pulpit. For too long now, the modern church has had an anti-christ spirit regarding the Sabbath day. I think, given the times we are now in, it is time to repent. We should do our best to REMEMBER the Sabbath day and keep it holy.

You are loved,
cj