[Darris McNeely] I did a recent blog about Christmas and why it is that people are not able to fully obey what God teaches about His Festivals and, of course, the phenomenon of Christmas. One of our readers wrote a response. I had, actually, quite a bit of response to that blog.

But an individual – well-meaning, well-intentioned, who is certainly tied into Christmas and has a deep emotional feeling about the day – wrote me and took exception to what I said. And one of his comments in his letter caught my attention. They said that they felt threatened at my insistence that people stop keeping Christmas. To quote, “Nobody can give me a date to replace it,” meaning Christmas. “Nobody can give me a date to replace Christmas.” That comment caught my attention. Well, I thought, “Yes, I can. I can give you and anyone a date to replace Christmas.” Let’s try this on for size.

How about the weekly Sabbath day? The seventh day, the commanded assembly that is embedded within the fourth commandment of the ten, that says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” That day, every week, replaces Christmas for the the biblically-sanctioned, biblically-oriented Holy Day that is far more important, far more meaningful, and honors Jesus Christ far more than December 25th can.

Why? Because of what Christ Himself said in Mark 2:27-28. The Jews were upset with Him because He had picked, He and His disciples had picked some corn, going through the fields on the Sabbath day. And Christ’s reply to them was, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” That’s a whole other topic right there. Tune in for another occasion for there. But, He said, “Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath day.” The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. The weekly Sabbath replaces any other day in that sense for us to worship God on, certainly December 25th, because that is the day that Christ commanded for us to worship Him and the Father on, as we come before Him in a commanded assembly and are to remember and to keep holy.  Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath.

And so, that’s the date to replace December 25th and a pagan festival about the birth of Christ. You know, the problem is nobody wants to do what Jesus said to do. The story of mankind is doing the exact opposite of what God has always instructed man to do for his well-being and for a right relationship with Him. And God has a problem with that, and no amount of emotional attachment and feeling, no matter how well-meaning that is, is going to change that.

Christ would be delighted if we called His Sabbath day a delight. In Isaiah 58:13, in a passage about the Sabbath day, it says that, “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My Holy Day, and call the Sabbath a delight...” then God goes on and He shows how He will bless us for keeping the Sabbath and calling it a delight. If we can do that, we are going to please God.

Now, Isaiah has more to say about the Sabbath, keeping the Sabbath, and also mankind’s false religious traditions. And that thought’s going to lead me into another comment about another series that I’ve been doing here lately, about problems here in America and in the world today. And I’ll have more to say about that next time. Join us on BT Daily.