Q.121. Why does the word Remember begin the fourth commandment?

A. The word Remember begins the fourth commandment[1] in one respect, because it his highly beneficial to remember it: the word helps us prepare ourselves to keep the commandment,[2] and when we do, it helps us to do a better job keeping all the other commandments;[3] and the word also reminds us to remain ever thankful for the two great benefits of creation and redemption, which contain the essence of true religion.[4] In another respect, the word “remember” reminds us how easy it is to forget to keep the Sabbath,[5] for several reasons. First, keeping the Sabbath is not obvious to our natural, human understanding,[6] while it additionally restricts our freedom from doing things that are lawful on other days.[7] And, coming only every seventh day leaves plenty of time for us to become so engrossed with our own worldly affairs that we forget to prepare for the Sabbath or keep it holy.[8] Finally, Satan himself with the tools at his disposal is hard at work to blot out the glory and even the memory of the Sabbath and so promote the neglect of religion and irreverence.[9]

1	Exodus 20:8	dummy text
2	Exodus 16:23	dummy text
	Luke 23:54	dummy text
	Luke 23:56	dummy text
	Mark 15:42	dummy text
	Nehemiah 13:19	dummy text
3	Psalms 92:13-14	dummy text
	Ezekiel 20:12	dummy text
	Ezekiel 20:19-20	dummy text
4	Genesis 2:2-3	dummy text
	Psalms 118:22	dummy text
	Psalms 118:24	dummy text
	Acts 4:10-11	dummy text
	Revelation 1:10	dummy text
	Hebrews 4:9	dummy text
5	Ezekiel 22:26	dummy text
	Numbers 15:37-38	dummy text
	Numbers 15:40	dummy text
6	Nehemiah 9:14	dummy text
7	Exodus 34:21	dummy text
8	Deuteronomy 5:14-15	dummy text
	Amos 8:5	dummy text
	Numbers 15:37-38	dummy text
	Numbers 15:40	dummy text
9	Lamentations 1:7	dummy text
	Jeremiah 17:21-23	dummy text
	Nehemiah 13:15-23	dummy text