A Day of Prohibitions

In the giving of the Ten Commandments as recorded in Exodus 20 the fourth commandment begins with positive words, "Remember the Sabbath day".  In the second giving of the law the fourth commandment begins with positive words, "Observe the Sabbath day".   While most of the commandments are stated in the negative the fourth is stated in the positive.
What I find interesting is how we have taken the commandment that is positive and made it so negative.  We have added so many prohibitions that we would not recognize that it was first given as a positive command. 
Having said that I must add that this commandment is very important to us today.  We do not find our rest in the commandment as our rest is found in Christ but by ignoring this commandment we are robbing our lives of the needed rest and restoration that it needs to keep going.  Many people who have shown so much promise in their thirties are burned out in their fifties.  Even our relaxation is stressful.  We have to learn to rest and be restored if we are to continue to minister in our later years.
Remember, observe the Sabbath.  That was the command to the Jews and to us it is stop trying to find your identification in yourself and rest in Christ who is our identity.