Avante Alegria!

It’s not the purpose of this post to get deep on the subject, but just to share somethings I have been learning since I decided to ask for God’s ancient paths, and walk therein (Jeremiah 6:16). Well, the biblical blessing is an ancient path, the Jewish wedding as well; the ceremony of transition from puberty to adulthood (Jewish Bar Mitzvah) as well; etc. I whole-heartedly believe that those things were not made just for the Jewish people, but they were made for all human being, because God has inicially implemented blessings mechanisms in the Hebrew culture to ensure prosperity to them, instilling in the laws and in the culture, and again for ensuring the blessing would be imparted from one generation to the next, to the next and to the next, as effectivelly as possible. But there aren’t such mechanisms anymore in our Western culture today, because the king of darkness has sistematically taken them off.

What has taking my attention to in the last months is something I am already completely convinced that is another ancient path: the Shabbat (or Erev Shabbat). That’s the holy day unto the LORD. In our culture, the adventists call that as “Sábado” (here in Brazil), however in my personal opinion, doesn’t have the same deep meanings and foundations as in the Jewish Shabbat. That’s the holy day unto Him, it’s an appointment with Him, which you spend 24h of each week devoting yourself to the family, celebrating the best meals, living out your time with a unique quality, blessing them throughout the day and through the cerimony of transition from the common day to the holy day.

In our Western culture, there isn’t anymore the right concept of holiness. The first thing that comes out in our Christian minds today when we hear the word “holiness” is this: to have a good behavior or moral high standards, go well in our way of thinking and behalf unto Kingdom’s stuffs, etc, etc, everything related to behavior. But the word “holy” in Hebrew is koddesh, and that means simply this: “dedicated”, “set-apart”, “separated” unto somebody or something (both good or evil). Thus, the word “holy” requires an object. Holy unto who or what? For instant, I am holy unto the LORD Yeshua, and I will be holy unto my future wife from our wedding day on; that means I will be dedicated, set-apart and separated unto her. Before our wedding day, I was common unto her; our relationship was common, not holy. From our wedding day on it will be holy. As husband I will have access in her heart (a deeper emotional comunication, a dedication, etc) that any husband else on the earth will have. That doesn’t mean that I have a higher moral standards than any husband else, or I am better than the other men, no! That just means that I am dedicaded, set-apart, separated unto my (future) wife, while every man else is just common (the opposite of holy) unto her (after the wedding day). Ijust gave one example of holiness but you can be holy to anything because if you have to be unto something or somebody (unto the LORD, unto a devil god, unto a special task, etc). I believe that we must understand the right understanding of “holiness”. For more information, listen to Holy vs Common audio teachings.

I gave a brief explanation of that because I want to say that our Western culture has lost completely the sense of holiness. There aren’t holy things anymore. Everything is common! All marriages are treated as common; all days are treated as common; all people are common; all authorities are common; everything is common, anything is holy. There isn’t the perception of holy anymore. It’s obvious the consequences of this lack of perception of what is holy inside a society (divorce, authority insubmition, immodesty in dressing, etc).

The Shabbat is a holy day unto the LORD, which you spend 24h each week resting, with no work, nothing to worry about, delighting yourself on the reached work of the last six days, just devoting yourself to the family, blessing them and imparting heavenly blessings to each memberr during all the cerimony process, meals and time together. It’s so beautiful! As the same way we give back 10% of everything received from the LORD through the tithe (another thing which the LORD says that is holy), we also do the same in the Shabbat. We give back 1 day of the week to the LORD, and He himself makes all the 6 days left better for us, providing body and spiritual resting need for our better functioning.

Well, I just gave a brief introduction on the Shabbat. There are several other things else I have discovered about. Personally, I haven’t started to “observe” the Shabbat yet, because it’s something very new for me and my family isn’t Christian as well, but I am getting deeper and deeper on the matter for me to observe it as soon as possible. I have sent some letters to FFI and other families which have already been observing the Shabbat, and asking them some information. My exciting journey is doing well! Surely It’s something very interesting to gradually do, especially by living in a culture where everything is so common (the opposite of holy). I really want to walk in that ancient path of God. If there is anybody else there who observes the Shabbat, please feel free to share with us your thoughts and life experience, I would appreciate so much hearing from you.

Thanks for reading.

For the Kingdom,

Senior aspiring to Knight,