Sunday—Not Just Another Day

As soon as you awake on Monday morning, there’s good news: Sunday’s coming.

Millions of people moan their way into Monday, grin midweek that it’s “hump day,” and breath a sigh of relief on Friday. For the Christian, there’s value in work, but Sunday becomes the highlight of our week.

Sunday is like no other day of the week. God meant it to be different.

A Day to Rest

We need routine pauses of physical rest. Aesop said, “If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it.”

That’s part of why the Fareway grocery chain  in the Midwest closes on Sunday.

Paul S. Beckwith opened the first store in Boone, Iowa in 1938. A story his father once told him  supported Paul’s religious convictions to hallow Sunday instead of using it to do business. His father had traveled to Iowa by wagon along with other pioneers. Some of the families rested on Sundays instead of traveling. Others, rushing to their destination, didn’t.

After a few weeks, those who got behind for keeping a day of rest and worship began catching up to those who didn’t. Paul’s father saw the results. The people were worn out, their horses were limping, and their wagons were broken down. Since opening in 1938, Fareway has always closed on Sunday.

Gordon MacDonald concludes, “We do not rest because our work is done; we rest because God commanded it and created us to have a need for it.”

 A Day to Refresh 

To spend a day without work obligations, kicking back in the recliner and taking a nap relaxes the physical person. But we need spiritual refreshment as well. Sunday was never just about relaxing. It was always about renewal, about becoming spiritually refreshed.

Many workplaces are not Christian-friendly. As Christians, we work shoulder-to-shoulder or desk-to-desk with non-believers who swear, gossip, and repeat off-color stories. We can pray our way through the day, but may still  feel tainted when we drive home.

Evenings with family and other Christians in a wholesome environment help. Constantly drawing closer to God is a must. Sunday, a day of restoration—a day of re-surrendering every iota of our being to God, in corporate worship with other believers—is necessary to maintaining optimum spiritual health.

On Sunday, we bask in God’s presence, letting Him rejuvenate us from the past six days and  prepare us for the week ahead (Psalm 16:11).

 A Day to Reflect

Here are three ways that we use Sunday to pause and ponder.

• We look back– We think over the details of the past week. We let the Holy Spirit help us put the week into perspective.
• We look ahead– What needs to placed into God’s hands? What future conversations or events to need to be trusted to His guidance? What unforeseeable outcomes need to be  surrendered to God’s wisdom?
• We look within– It’s a time for total honesty with the One who knows everything about us. It’s our moment of truth to acknowledge what God’s saying to us. It’s our time to respond to God, to let Him change whatever He needs to.

The Road Ahead:

Choose one of the following descriptions of Sunday that you need to personalize better than you do. Pray for God to help you improve.

1. Sunday is the day for a spiritual feast. We eat spiritual meals the other six days when we set apart time to be alone with God and His word. But banqueting at God’s table with like-minded believers on Sunday is a feast of worship, confession, reaching out, and letting God’s word penetrate our hearts.
2. Sunday is the day for a full surrender. The first day of the week is a time to submit our biggest frustrations, fears, and failures to God. We can take them to church and carry them back home with us or we can lay them at Jesus’ feet and leave them. It’s the difference in being a Mary or a Martha (Luke 10:41-42).

Future Fuel: Psalm 122:1; Mark 2:27; Hebrews 10:25.