A couple weeks back, my deacon of finance commented over lunch: "How different do you think things would be if Christians treated Sunday as the first day of the week rather than the last?"
it was a great question. The question puts its finger on our entire approach to the Lord's Day. Far too often we approach Sunday as the day we rest from the week gone by rather than the day of first fruits, of beginning with the Lord and shaping our hearts and souls for the week ahead. When that happens, God gets the leftovers and the world gets the best part of us.
On Sunday nights, most of us will begin routines designed to help us get off to a good start for the week. We'll select the children's clothes for school. We'll perhaps pack lunches. Spouses will coordinate schedules, being sure important meetings and outings are highlighted. Thoughts will turn to work: tasks to get done, meetings to attend, and so on. In short, we prepare for the week now that Sunday is over.
How would it affect our souls and our weeks to simply back the preparation up one day so that Sunday is the first day of the week and the Saturday the night of our preparation for all that's ahead? What if we invested considerable energy planning to get off to a good start with the Lord and His people, and planning to give the leftovers to lesser lords? How would we benefit if we lived for the Lord's Day rather than living for the weekend? I think the effect would be noticeable and almost immediate.
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2 comments:
Good thoughts. I would agree we often miss the importance of Sunday, though I'd like to suggest even another way to look at it:
I view Sunday as the last day of my week. My reasoning, though, is that I have lived an obedient life of worship throughout my week, and on Sunday I'm able to bring and lay before God that sacrifice of worship. This way I'm not setting aside Sunday as my "day of worship," but rather it is the day I celebrate with my family the worship I've been doing all week long. And then I am also encouraged and built up by the other believers, so that I can obediently live Christ into the community for another week.
So, rather than Sunday being the first of my week that I give to God, it is the day I am always looking forward to, so that I can give to God all that I've lived for him.
Thanks for this post. I guess it's all in what attitude you choose to have on Sunday -- but just some food for thought: didn't God rest on the 7th day AFTER doing all his work?
I think it might be good to have a balance between the two attitudes:
- rest from our busy week, thank God for all the blessings from the last week
- look forward to what God might have in store for us in the coming week, prepare our hearts to worship him every day
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