Correcting an Omission!

When I posted my comments about the Sabbath yesterday, I completely forgot to “tie them into” our discussion of the coming nuclear war. I suppose it was because it is so “natural” for me to talk about the beliefs shared by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. So, I forgot to mention how crucial to peace it is for enough “believers” to embrace all three religions in matters of real importance, especially God Himself!

Consequently, I now must try to “make up” for my lapse. If we’re going to “turn our hearts to each other” to avoid a nuclear war, as the Prophet Malachi said we must do (see my post "Choose For Yourself" on 10.29), we need to become acquainted with at least some of the teachings about God, revealed by the Prophets of the three religions. And for reasons not worth your time to read, I happened to begin with the Sabbath, observed by Jews, Christians and Muslims. I’ll speak more about those commonly held beliefs in the coming days.

On Being a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim

Years ago, a new acquaintance, while visiting my home, noticed numerous copies of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Christian Bible, and the Koran stacked near my desk. Knowing nothing of my writings, she asked, “What IS your religion?” I answered, “I am a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim.” She stared at me for a moment and then said, “My God, you are religious!” I enjoyed her response, since others have reacted to my religion’s “title” with a disgusted shrug — or worse! I told her, “Yes, I am religious, but not in a way Jews, Christians and Muslims would acknowledge!”

For instance, I celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday, not because I blindly favor Judaism, but because it is the seventh day of the seven day week that God established, and He decreed it a day of “rest” (Exodus 20:9-10;Deuteronomy 5:13-14). In truth, I’ve never understood how Christians and Muslims can take a different day of the week as the Sabbath —- especially when the "Messiah Jesus” also celebrated the Sabbath on the seventh day!

Of course, I realize that Christians and Muslims have simply listened to their clergies -- those “devout" authorities who "piously" wanted to separate their own “precious flock” from the “disgusting Jews." So, they took it upon themselves to negate God’s words and establish a different day as the Sabbath! Their arrogance is incredible! But I’m grateful that God gave us a Sabbath, and I’m grateful that I finally became smart enough to observe it, because I’ve found it a great help to put all thoughts of my “earthly labor” out of my mind one day a week. It’s wondrously refreshing.