January 14 - TGFS (Thank God for Sunday) -- Exodus 20:8-11

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January 14

TGFS

(Thank God for Sunday)

 

Bible Reading:

Mark 2:23-27 ²³Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. ²⁴And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: ²⁶how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?” ²⁷And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

 

 

Hebrews 4:4

For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”

 

            Exodus 20:8-11

⁸“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work,¹⁰but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.  In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

 

 

THE FINAL BELL rang.  Jesse slammed his locker door shut and started toward the school doors.  He saw Steven in the jostling crowd ahead and pushed forward until he was walking beside his friend.  

"What are you doing this weekend?" Jesse asked.

Steven shrugged.  "I don't know. Nothing, I guess. How about you?"

"I'm gonna be pretty busy down at church. Our youth group is helping with worship on Sunday, so ..."

"You sound like you enjoy that stuff," Steven said.

"I do! Sunday mornings are great.  And then we (my family, I mean) usually spend Sunday afternoons doing stuff together.  Even if we just play Monopoly, it's kinda cool because it's different from any other day in the week.  And Sunday dinner is always the best meal of the week."

            "Your Sunday is sure different from mine.  The only way I know it's Sunday is that there's more newspaper lying around the house."

Jesse shrugged as he and Steven boarded the school bus together. "My parents say that Sunday shows us God's grace, because He gives us a day not to work.  It reminds us that He gives us things, not because we deserve them, but just because that's the way God is!"

 

Is your Sunday any different from the rest of the week?  Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man; that means it's a special day with a special meaning.  We are to use it as God's day to understand more about Him, especially about His graciousness toward us.  

It's not always easy to know how to make and keep Sunday special.  Even in Jesus' time there was disagreement over how people should spend the Sabbath (as today's reading shows).  But from the beginning, God wanted us to enjoy a special day of rest and re-creation.

 

REFLECT: Sabbath is a Hebrew word that means "to stop doing something."  What do you stop doing on your Sabbath?  What do you start doing?  How is your Sunday different from other days?  What can you do to make it more special?

 

PRAY: "God, sometimes I forget what Sunday is all about.  Help me to remember Your graciousness for Your sake and for mine."