NEVER ON SUNDAY

My wife and I were coming home from lunch on Easter Sunday and she made this passing comment about they “twice a year” crowd. Those were the people who flock to church twice a year as if God truly is impressed with that type of faith.

Not that I’m wishing to criticize a person for following what is important to their thinking. But rather to simply reflect on the sadness of how often it seems that we easily slip into the idea of what we think is holy has the same priority in God’s eyes.

It doesn’t seem to matter what God’s word says or how Jesus once condemned such attitude when it came to keeping rituals out of habit instead of obedience and faith. Which regrettably is one addiction that too often occurs in human nature.

There was a time in this country, for example when certain type so business or establishments didn’t stay open on Sunday. I’m sure there are places even today where that practice still takes place.

However, in many ways, time and changes in attitude have prevailed and what was thought as “spiritual” once no longer is given the same consideration or relevance. Of course in terms of tradition the foundation of the way one observes a religious day comes from the Old Testament admonitions regarding keeping the Sabbath.

Part of keeping it “holy” or set aside from the rest of the week was to not do any labor. On a practical level it was to be sure people took one day out of seven to truly rest. And on a spiritual level it was to take that time when the body rested to allow the soul to reflect upon our Lord. At least that was the intention.

The debate over Sabbath keeping often intrudes upon Christian circles. What is often strange is how people want to treat Sunday as the Sabbath, when it was and always will be on Saturday. When they try to make Sunday a Sabbath they are in reality merely showing their ignorance of what is the real Sabbath.

As Christians, Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. To keep the Sabbath is to in essence put one’s faith in him. It isn’t tide to a given day, it is tied to a given SAVIOR!

That will never be enough for those who want to tie their salvation to works. So for them going to church or avoiding some activity in relationship to a given day will always in their eyes be a spiritual activity approved by God. He does know our hearts and He can pierce through all the pretense and our facades of religiosity to what truly resides within.

For me, I celebrate with joy the precious gift of salvation and never link it to a given day. I am content to see Jesus as Lord over all my days and don’t think my sitting in a pew on a Sunday as anything that makes me closer to him that when I’m elsewhere. Perhaps the elements of the Spirit’s touch can caress our sense of truth enough that we don’t have to spend as much time saying “never on Sunday” and instead say always to the Savior every day of the week.