“You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:15)
In this portion of Deuteronomy, Moses renews God’s covenant with a new generation of Israelites. All of the Israelites who left Egypt were now dead except for Moses, Caleb, and Joshua so the time has come to renew it for the new generation who were on the verge of entering the Promised Land. Moses used language that indicated that the covenant was made with all those now present, the nation of Israel, so that all of what followed applied to them.
Moses began with a restatement of the 10 Commandments which reminded the people, among other things, of the importance of resting on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a time to rest from work as well as a time to worship God by calling to mind what He had done for them and of their obligation to obey Him.
In the New Covenant sealed by the blood of Jesus we celebrate the Sabbath as a day of worship. We remember and celebrate the grace of God and thank Him for all He has done for us. He has saved from sin and death while we were still in bondage to them, before we even knew who He was, while we were powerless to even obey any of His commands. We, therefore, must maintain a proper reverence for Him and His law. His Law exists for our benefit for it is the Law of Love. The Lord desires our well-being, our love, and our fellowship. In order to do this we must submit our wills, our entire lives to His control. We are nothing without Him.