今天世上每一個城市，都是按著一星期七天的週期來運作，奇怪嗎？你對這一週七天的認識知多少？
- 安息日，亞當夏娃被造後一覺醒來的第一天，人類歷史最早的一個節日。按創世記2章所記，神定這天為「聖日」，這也是「分別為聖」的概念第一次在聖經中出現。
- 「守安息日」是神藉摩西頒布的十誡的第四誡，在神律法中佔十分重要的位置。按聖經出埃及記20章的記載，這是「因為六日之內，耶和華造天、地、海，和其中的萬物，第七日便安息。」按此，這一天神的子民無論何工都不可做，要照樣休息。
- 猶太人是第一個按著六天工作、第七日休息的週期來安排作息及敬拜生活的民族。有別於其他宗教，猶太人的安息日敬拜是透過「時間」來進行，不在乎「地點」──公元前六世紀猶大亡國，聖殿被毀，猶太人被擄到外邦。自那時開始，這樣的敬拜方式便逐漸深植在世界各地猶太人的宗教意識之中。
- 透過安息才能得到安息──舊約中的以色列國及猶大國一直內外交困，最終逃不過滅亡厄運，按聖經的解釋，是因為沒有這樣正確看待神所賜的安息──以賽亞書30 章所記神對祂子民的責備，是這困局的寫照：「主耶和華以色列的聖者曾如此說：你們得救在乎歸回安息；你們得力在乎平靜安穩；你們竟自不肯。」
- 「安息日是為人設立的，人不是為安息日設立的。」（馬可福音二27）──安息日是「以人為本」，本意是叫人得安息──這是耶穌回應法利賽人墨守律法條文，對神設立安息日的目的所作的解釋。
- 承接舊約信息，耶穌當日對群眾所傳的福音，也是針對人怎樣「得息」：「凡勞苦擔重擔的人可以到我這裡來，我就使你們得安息。我心裡柔和謙卑，你們當負我的軛，學我的樣式；這樣，你們心裡就必得享安息。」（馬太福音十一28-29）。
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2 comments:
I believe that most people want to rest as much as they need physically or mentally. We just often experience internal struggle whether taking a break is the right thing to do. Firstly, would one be considered too lazy while people around him (her) are working 14 hours a day? How would his family members judge him, as they are also influenced by the culture of the society? Secondly, if he wants to excel in his career path, he has to keep on learning new things; learning has thus become a pressure and taken away some of his rest time. Thirdly, as he has many roles to play in the family, at work, at church, in the community, etc., each of which demands his time, at the cost of his time for rest and reflection. Isn’t this an example of ‘the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak’?
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