Sunday, January 4
So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
—Genesis 2:3
One of the most difficult
disciplines we can do as children of God is to STOP, BREATHE, and REST on
Sundays. Just try NOT to buy a thing on Sunday. We, the consumers,
treat Sundays like any other shopping day, which means other people must spend
the Sabbath working to fulfill our needs. This is a complicated issue, one we
should approach without judgment on anyone but
ourselves.
Probably the most constructive way to honor the
Sabbath is to try to reclaim God's model—to
rest and reflect.
Here is what Frederick Buechner says about the Sabbath in his book Wishful
Thinking:
You think of God resting after the creation was finally all created. You think of the deep hush of it, like the hush between breakers at the beach. You think of the new creation itself resting—the grey squirrel ceasing to twitch and chatter, the kingfisher settling down on the branch by the pond, the man and the woman standing still in the garden. You think of God blessing this one day of the seven and hallowing it, making it holy.
You feel at peace in your mind. For no particular reason, you let the palms of your hands come together and close your eyes. Sometimes it is only when you happen to taste a crumb of it that you dimly realize what it is that you're so hungry for you can hardly bear it.
May God grant us the wisdom and the discipline to honor the Sabbath, and thereby to honor our creator.
Gracious God, help us to honor You, your creation, and each other, beginning with ourselves. Give us the grace to observe the Sabbath, to keep it holy. Give us the wisdom to understand how precious this day is, and how far we have strayed from its purpose. Amen.
