It's Not A Suggestion

…“Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” Luke 6:2

It’s here…my favorite time of year…volleyball season! That means teaching all week and then spending about nine hours in a gym on Saturdays watching the Lady Pirates play their hearts out.

I try to squeeze in a little homework between games but mostly it’s just a fun day with great young ladies and lots of fun parents. The only down side is all the Saturday chores that don’t get done at home. When we got home Saturday and I picked up a sweaty uniform and started sorting socks all I wanted to do was plunk down on the couch to enjoy a lazy Saturday night after a long week, I thought about this verse from Luke.

My first reaction to this Gospel is …YIKES! If they were in trouble for plucking heads of grain on the Sabbath what would they have done with me? I look at the way I spend many Sundays and I realize the Pharisees would have booted me right out on my ear immediately!

Jesus had a perfect defense for “breaking” the law, but I usually don’t. Jesus had specific evidence about occasions and events where the law could be seen from another perspective, and I usually don’t. Jesus was eloquently pointing out that the Sabbath was for worship and giving nourishment that provided the strength to carry out that worship was not a violation. When I look at my Sunday practices, I have to honestly admit that most of those tasks have nothing to do with worship.

Laundry, sweeping, and grocery shopping are not prayerful worship aids but my guilty conscience and I try to defend them. There are isolated exceptions but the bottom line is I’m famous for trying to include too many things in that category. This Gospel reminds me that I would be better off spending my Sabbath in prayer and study, lifting up all the tasks and responsibilities to His divine organization and timing and spending less time breaking the rules, feeling guilty, and trying to engineer my ridiculous defense!

It made me stop and think about what my Sundays usually look like. Do I use it to rest, find peace and grow closer to God or do I use it as a catch up day for everything that didn’t get done the week before? I’ve written about Sunday before but I just keep coming back to it because I don’t seem to get it right.

When God keeps putting something on my heart again and again it usually means I’m not getting the picture! Things have to get done, I know, but I wonder if I’m really doing my best to honor the commandment. I continued with the wash and moved on to a couple other tasks because I realized that they are called the Ten Commandments and not the ten suggestions.

I think God is calling me to spend this volleyball season working harder to keep my Sunday focus on him. I’ll let you know how it turns out! He can be pretty bossy so I think I better take him seriously!

A Seed To Plant: Jot down this little prayer and lets promise to pray it as we prepare for our next Lord's day! Lord of all things, as I spend a day of rest with you, infuse me with the trust to know my gift of time given to your honor will unfolded splendidly and perfectly into a beautiful and blessed week.

Blessings on your day!