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a day of rest

This topic has come up with many friends within the last few weeks.

We as Christians are commanded to "honor the Sabbath to keep it holy." Growing up (until my teen years, that is) I thought that meant going to church. After all, isn't that what we did on Sunday? But then I discovered the little verse in under Exodus 20:8 and discovered that this commandment actually means to REST one day a week.
I'm not sure we obey that command very well.
Now, compared to the other six days, my Sundays are restful. I do minimal chores, there's no work, and we often have 2-3 hours spursed throughout the day to rest, read, or whatever. But that's not an entire day of rest. And when you work 5 days, spend 1 day on housework, then are at church most of the time the 7th day...where's the rest?
When we first got married, we debated whether or not to eat out on Sundays. My senior year of high school, the grocery store where I worked started opening on Sunday afternoons. I'd leave church during the invitation, wolf down a sandwich, and make it to work only a few minutes late. Then I'd go straight from work to church on Sunday nights. 95% of our customers on Sunday afternoons were church people. Had they stayed home, the store would eventually have stopped opening on Sundays due to no business. In college I worked in the school cafeteria, and Sundays were always my worst days. The students had to eat, but it always rubbed me the wrong way that everyone else at Bible College could go take a Sunday afternoon nap while 4-5 of us scrubbed pots and pans or worked in the dish room for 2 hours. My senior year I upgraded from the school cafeteria to Taco Bell, and I had Sundays off. But it was a privilege I had to constantly fight for, specifically since my manager recognized many of my classmates and found it stupid that they would come through the drive-through (and for the record, that was forbidden by the school), but then I wasn't able to work on one of the busiest days. I totally understood his point of view, and I worked many 12 hour shifts on Saturdays to have the privilege of Sundays off. So I feel guilty whenever I go to a restaurant on Sunday and see someone working because of me. Yet if we don't eat out, that means cooking and clean-up for me. It's almost a no win situation.
I firmly believe church is important. You know, the "don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together" verse. I can think of very little our church does on Sundays that isn't important, but I must admit there are days I'm very jealous of non-Christians who get a two-day weekend, allowing them one day of rest. It strikes me as odd that a non-believer can actually follow that commandment much better than I can.
So meanwhile, I've started resting more on Saturdays. If everything doesn't get done, so be it. It will still be there tomorrow. And until I find an acceptable, balanced resolution to this catch 22, I guess we'll keep things the way they are.

Comments

Jennifer said…
As a wife and mother, I don't think there is ever a time of rest. I personally don't believe that you can't eat out on Sundays. I know people who do and I respect that, but for one, like you said, someone is going to work...either in a restaurant, or me preparing the food and cleaning after. I would rather me as a Christian have the 'day of rest" and eat out than a non-Christian who doesn't care (does that make sense?). We can't do that every Sunday financially, but it helps when we can. It also helps me focus more on the message when I don't have to think about rushing home to get a meal preparred for lunch.
This is definitely a tricky issue and one that if you read ten different books you're bound to come away with ten different opinions/interpretations. I am personally glad that we live under the new covenant with Christ. He came to fulfill the law so that we are not under that obligation. And of the 10 commandments, this is the one which is not reiterated in the NT. Like many things in our lives, God leaves it up to our discretion and conscience. I think it is possible to drive yourself crazy with trying to establish legalistic rules to live by but that's not what Christ wants. First, I belive that God is trying to give us advice about the need for physical rest. And that's going to be different for all of us in how we take that rest and what we choose to do. But I believe the bigger issue has a spiritual answer. Our rest is found in our Lord and Savior. In Him we find our perfect rest in that He delivered us from bondage and took away our death sentence. We do not have this hanging over our heads and can take great joy in it. We have the truth and understand what happens in this world and what will happen in the next. That's something the unsaved can not have and why they will never be able to find true rest. But those of us who are truly saved can rejoice in this rest each and every day until we are perfected and then spend eternity in His presence. Praise God!

(If you want something more "theological", I'd suggest checking out this entry on MacArthur's church's blog:

Christians and the Sabbath
)
Lydia said…
Wow, Monica...you sparked some paragraphs here:)I'm all about paper plates and sandwiches for Sunday lunch. And dessert of course...that I made the day before. I think Sundays are best as days spent with family (spiritual and blood-related), laughing and talking. That counts as rest to me!
Monica said…
"Like many things in our lives, God leaves it up to our discretion and conscience. I think it is possible to drive yourself crazy with trying to establish legalistic rules to live by but that's not what Christ wants..."
I agree with your statement, Rich but I also believe Matthew 5:17,18 does not eradicate/destroy the law. It just fulfills it so we don't have to keep it to meet the requirements for salvation. But that's a topic for another time. :O)
I agree, there was no removal of the law. But Christ came to fulfill it so that we don't have to (because we can't which is one great indication of why the unsaved should feel their need for a Savior). But of all the commandments, only the 4th was not reiterated in the NT (new covenant with Christ). Christ reiterated the other 9 to help the people realize that no legalistic practices could satisfy the requirements of the law (like the Pharisees lived). God looks at the heart, that's where He wants obedience. So we have no obligation to keep the Sabbath day (which is likely a day which no longer really exists since it passed away with the Mosaic covenant) holy. Like the OT sacrifical system that was a foreshadow of the covenant under Christ, so the Sabbath was a foreshadow of our rest in Him. We have that rest, those that are truly saved that is, and it has nothing to do with a day of the week or what's done on it.

So, #1, to make Sunday the Sabbath is a stretch. Some would argue you to death that it should be Saturday and that brings up a whole other round of debate and bit of legalistic tendencies there as well.

#2 Any attempt to define what "work" is so that you are sure not to do it on the "Sabbath" is trying to rely on a set of legalistic pratices (which the Pharisees were experts at). God wants your heart and your life, not a set of rules and regulations which are as sure to be as prone to error as the fallen human being that makes them.

#3 I say enjoy Sunday as a day of worship with your fellow saints and except for using it as a day of rest, don't worry about the "work" thing.

That's just me, so to speak.

Soli Deo Gloria!

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