I Work On Sunday

Making a planI grew up believing it was wrong to work on Sunday. We were taught at a very young age “to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”.  So no one in our family worked on Sunday. As I grew up and began to study the Word, I realized that the Sabbath was actually Saturday and that what the scripture was speaking of was a concept of a rest day, much like the Lord did after He created everything.

“By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all of His work.” (Genesis 2:2 NIV)

The Sabbath rest is more about taking a rest day from your labor than it is not to work on Sunday. Now the early church met on the first day of the week for worship, so it became an obvious day to take a Sabbath rest.  I guess my point is: there are several biblical concepts and teachings that we often turn into indisputable rules and they were never meant to be treated that way.  Paul was speaking to the Romans specifically about some of these “rules” that they were trying to impose on each other.  Check this out…

5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. (Romans 14:5-8 NIV)

The concept of working on Sunday is not new. The preachers who were preaching that you shouldn’t work on Sunday, were in fact, themselves working on Sunday! There are health-care workers, emergency workers and lots of others working positions that remain open. Keeping the Sabbath holy is more about a concept than a specific day of the week for everyone. I believe in the Sabbath rest principle. I believe that I should take a day to rest and reflect on what God is doing and what He wants to do in me and through me. I don’t believe people who “work on Sunday” are full of sin. I believe that we all need to have a day of rest and for many people in our culture, Sunday is a great day because the banks are closed, the post office is closed and Chic-fil-a  is closed…to name a few.

My convictions regarding many concepts in scripture might be stricter than others, but they are my convictions. It’s wrong of me to pass judgment on you for your convictions and wrong for others to pass judgment on me for mine. There are indisputable concepts that Jesus taught that are not negotiable for any of His followers. As I study His Word and seek His heart, my convictions become stronger and stronger. My love for others becomes more genuine and tolerant of their spot along the journey. I want others to seek the Lord with their whole heart, but I’m most responsible for my own journey. I don’t want my convictions to cause others to stumble, but I don’t want to stumble in my journey either.  I’m determined NOT to pass judgment on others because the Only Lawgiver and Judge Who really matters is God Himself. He can handle all of that just fine. I will continue to work at leading worship occasionally on Sunday which is work, I will continue to show houses on Sunday on occasion AND I will continue to take a much needed rest from my work and listen to the Lord!

Pressing On!
Dwayne

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