The Fourth Commandment
(Shorter Catechism 60-62)

“The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.” (A.60). The Sabbath means we stop doing our ordinarily weekly activities in order to give our time to God’s worship. The Sabbath is for worship.

“The fourth commandment forbids the omission or careless performance of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words or works, about our worldly employments or recreations.” (A.61).

The Sabbath is not a day to be idle but rather to be active and put effort in to concentrating on worshipping God at home and among God’s people.

God gives us six days to be busy in our work as God was in creation, in order to have the Sabbath in His presence. It is a special day that God blesses and that blessing will come to those who keep the Sabbath in a right way (A.62).