My friend is a Christian and she says that all kinds of activities are OK to do on Sunday so long as we go to church, but my parents do not agree. Who is right?
Suggested Daily Reading: Genesis 2:1-3 and Exodus 20: 8-11
When God instituted the Sabbath day in Genesis 2 and commanded us to observe it in Exodus 20, the Lord did not just sanctify the church service but the Sabbath day. He did not command us to only remember the worship service, to keep it holy, but the whole Sabbath day.
God has blessed us by graciously giving us every seventh day, one day a week, in which we may rest from our regular work to rest in Him. The word “Sabbath” means “rest.” The focus of our Sunday observance should be to:
Remember God and His word and works
Focus on spiritual truths
Provide time for public worship services
Rest spiritually in God
Rest physically, mentally and emotionally
Distinguish God’s people
Therefore the entire Sunday should reflect loving appreciation and obedience to God. We should do our best to focus on God that day by using our Sunday to best match the purposes listed above. It is to be a day of joy in the Lord.
The keeping of the weekly Sabbath is an institution of God meant for the New Testament church, as well as Old Testament. We know this because the weekly Sabbath observance was instituted by God as a creation ordinance (Gen. 2:1-3) like marriage (Gen. 2:24) and work (Gen. 2:15). God also included it as a commandment in His moral law (the Ten Commandments), which He did not write in pencil (to be erased) but engraved this commandment (like the other nine commandments), in stone to be permanent until the end of time and the ushering in of the eternal Sabbath. The Sabbath was moved from Saturday, the last day of the week, to the Lord’s Day on Sunday, the first day of the week, in commemoration of Jesus’ our Lord’s resurrection from the dead on the first day of the week.
What is your Sunday observance like? Are you doing your best to match your time and day to the purposes of Sunday observance listed above?