Monday, January 26, 2009
The Sabbath
is a gift from God. Some people accept this gift, and some don't. The ones who reject the gift think that they're free, unconstrained, and having a better time, but more and more, I am seeing what a blessing the Sabbath really is.
God commands us to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8). He also tells us that the Sabbath is made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).
When I was about 8, I told my sister that Sunday was my favorite day of the week. Sunday meant waking up to the smell of waffles and the sound of the Beatles. It meant reading the Sunday funnies in my pajamas, and doing nothing all day. Sara told me that she liked Saturday better, because everything's closed on Sunday, and on Sunday, you have Monday looming right around the corner, which, of course, meant school.
Every once in a while, Sunday was different. Sometimes, my dad would find a church, and he would go. Sara almost always went with him, if he gave enough advance notice. If the church was good, it would happen the next week too, and I would go too.
When I was 15, I started working at the Riviera Club. I held many positions there, including front desk attendant, life guard, and waitress. During the school year, I worked in the dining room, collecting money from people who came to our buffet dinners.
One day, while I was out, my boss called my home phone, and my mom answered. He asked if I could work Sunday brunch. My mother said yes, and informed me when I got home. When she told me, the first thing that ran through my head was that very confusing verse in Exodus 20 about honoring the Sabbath day. However, I quickly justified my conflicting thoughts with that other verse in Exodus 20 about honoring your mother and father. Clearly my mother wanted me to work on Sunday, so doing so honored her.
When I was 17, I moved out and went to college. Thus began a new weekly routine which included church every Sunday. I also began telling my employers that I was unavailable on Sundays.
However, I still wondered about things. The verse that commands us to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy is probably one of the most crystal clear verse to some people, but to me it was very confusing. I wondered if it was ok to do homework on the Sabbath in a post on my blog.
Later on, I began to wonder if it was wrong to go shopping on Sunday. Exodus 20 goes on to command us not to allow our servants, children, or sojourners staying with us to work on the Sabbath either. If I was going shopping, was the cashier in a way my servant? Or, did the verse simply mean that we should do all we can to prevent others from breaking the Sabbath? Either way, shopping on Sunday didn't seem like a good option. I wondered about that on another blog post.
Since then (both of those posts were from my freshman year), I have quit shopping on Sunday, and I have quit doing homework on Sunday. But, the Sabbath is still a topic of discussion. Some of my friends don't watch secular movies or read secular books on Sunday, and others do. I generally don't, but there is a point where restricting Sunday activities makes you serve the Sabbath, instead of the Sabbath serving you.
God commands us to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8). He also tells us that the Sabbath is made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).
When I was about 8, I told my sister that Sunday was my favorite day of the week. Sunday meant waking up to the smell of waffles and the sound of the Beatles. It meant reading the Sunday funnies in my pajamas, and doing nothing all day. Sara told me that she liked Saturday better, because everything's closed on Sunday, and on Sunday, you have Monday looming right around the corner, which, of course, meant school.
Every once in a while, Sunday was different. Sometimes, my dad would find a church, and he would go. Sara almost always went with him, if he gave enough advance notice. If the church was good, it would happen the next week too, and I would go too.
When I was 15, I started working at the Riviera Club. I held many positions there, including front desk attendant, life guard, and waitress. During the school year, I worked in the dining room, collecting money from people who came to our buffet dinners.
One day, while I was out, my boss called my home phone, and my mom answered. He asked if I could work Sunday brunch. My mother said yes, and informed me when I got home. When she told me, the first thing that ran through my head was that very confusing verse in Exodus 20 about honoring the Sabbath day. However, I quickly justified my conflicting thoughts with that other verse in Exodus 20 about honoring your mother and father. Clearly my mother wanted me to work on Sunday, so doing so honored her.
When I was 17, I moved out and went to college. Thus began a new weekly routine which included church every Sunday. I also began telling my employers that I was unavailable on Sundays.
However, I still wondered about things. The verse that commands us to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy is probably one of the most crystal clear verse to some people, but to me it was very confusing. I wondered if it was ok to do homework on the Sabbath in a post on my blog.
Later on, I began to wonder if it was wrong to go shopping on Sunday. Exodus 20 goes on to command us not to allow our servants, children, or sojourners staying with us to work on the Sabbath either. If I was going shopping, was the cashier in a way my servant? Or, did the verse simply mean that we should do all we can to prevent others from breaking the Sabbath? Either way, shopping on Sunday didn't seem like a good option. I wondered about that on another blog post.
Since then (both of those posts were from my freshman year), I have quit shopping on Sunday, and I have quit doing homework on Sunday. But, the Sabbath is still a topic of discussion. Some of my friends don't watch secular movies or read secular books on Sunday, and others do. I generally don't, but there is a point where restricting Sunday activities makes you serve the Sabbath, instead of the Sabbath serving you.
Jessica 1:27 AM