When I was growing up, in the 1950s (!!!), stores closed on Sundays. There was no shopping. No buying and selling. In Rockford, Illinois, even restaurants were closed. There were no kids sports leagues on Sunday mornings. We did sports on the other days of the week. Why not? Because Sunday was called "the Sabbath." This was a different world!
And, we always went to the church building to gather with the church (church = people of God). After all, God's Word says we are to "remember the Sabbath day, and keep it set apart for God" (= "keep it holy"). We did.
This Sabbath idea got deep inside me. It made, and still makes, sense to me. So, Linda and I have always kept the Sabbath. We don't miss gathering when the church meets. Ever. Except, perhaps, if we are traveling on vacation. Or one of us is sick. But even then, "sabbath" is in our DNA. It affects how we live during the other six days of the week.
John Comer writes:
"The Sabbath isn’t just a twenty-four-hour time slot in your weekly schedule; it’s a spirit of restfulness that goes with you throughout your week. A way of living with “ease, gratitude, appreciation, peace and prayer.” A way of working from rest, not for rest, with nothing to prove. A way of bearing fruit from abiding, not ambition.
As Walter Brueggemann said so eloquently: "People who keep Sabbath live all seven days differently." (Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, p. 172)
