The joy of the Sabbath is restored in Messiah
The seventh day Sabbath is a blessed and holy day, so take the day off from work to gather for worship, enjoy God's creation, spend time with family who work all week, strengthen your relationship in Messiah, and with God's people.
Leviticus 23:3 You have six days in which to do your work, but remember that the seventh day, the Sabbath, is a day of rest. On that day do not work, but gather for worship. The Sabbath belongs to the Lord, no matter where you live.
The Sabbath is a holy day, a holy day can be enjoyed.
Nehemiah 8:10 Ezra said to them, “Go, eat and drink what you enjoy, and give some to him who has nothing ready. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be sad for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
It was the law, which was given at Mt. Sinai, that caused religious man to add all kinds of legalistic burdens to Sabbath observance, Messiah removed all the burdens that man put on the Sabbath, He didn’t remove the Sabbath itself. If you have any doubt that the people were happy with how Messiah was removing all the man-made and legalistic burdens from the Sabbath, listen to the crowd who watched Him do it, they were rejoicing.
Luke 13:14-17 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work should be done! So come and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.” Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall, and lead it to water? Then shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be released from this imprisonment on the Sabbath day?” When he said this all his adversaries were humiliated, but the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.
If something comes up on the Sabbath that needs your attention, take care of it. If you’re hungry, and it’s the Sabbath, get something to eat. If you need to work on the Sabbath because of the type of job you have, go to work. The Sabbath was made for man, so the son of man is lord of the Sabbath. We are the son of man.
Mark 2:23-28 Now it happened that He went through the grain fields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” But Jesus said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the show bread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?” And Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the son of man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
The whole idea of the New Covenant is that if you love God, and you have His Spirit, you will follow His ways, and reject the ways of the other nations, just has He told us.
Deuteronomy 12:29-31 When the Lord your God goes ahead of you and destroys the nations and you drive them out and live in their land, do not fall into the trap of following their customs and worshiping their gods. Do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations worship their gods? I want to follow their example.’ You must not worship the Lord your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for their gods every detestable act that the Lord hates.
Hebrews 8:10 This is the new covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
This is what happens to us in the New Covenant. We get a new nature with new desires that want to obey God's law, and do what pleases Him. That's what being born again is all about.
Ezekiel 36:25-28 Then it will be as though I had sprinkled clean water on you, for you will be clean—your filthiness will be washed away, your idol worship gone. And I will give you a new heart—I will give you new and right desires—and put a new spirit within you. I will take out your stony hearts of sin and give you new hearts of love. And I will put my Spirit within you so that you will obey my laws and do whatever I command. “‘And you shall live in Israel, the land which I gave your fathers long ago. And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
To those who love God, and allow His Spirit to control them, it will be hard not to follow His ways.
1 John 5:3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.
It's those who are controlled by their sinful nature that resist God, and refuse to obey His law.
Romans 8:6-8 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.