Skip to main content

Celebrate Jesus

“Abby, what do you think it means to ‘remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.’?”  I asked as we were walking and talking.   I saw that someone had written The Ten Commandments in sidewalk chalk.   When I asked the question, I was not prepared for the simple answer that she gave.   Without a moment of hesitation, she said, “To celebrate Jesus and make his day special.”   Whoa!!  Her answer was so simple, yet so profound that it made my heart leap.  In those words, she beautifully captured God’s desire.  God wants us to celebrate the day of rest, Sunday.   Often, Sunday becomes like any other day.   I fear that, for most of us, there is nothing that distinguishes Sunday from any other day of the week.  We do nothing different than we do Monday through Saturday.  Do we celebrate Sunday?  Or is it just a day to catch up on chores, and other things.  Do we make it a day for celebrating God?  Or celebrating ourselves and doing what we want.  I confess that often I am guilty of getting into a rut.  I sometimes make going to church a thing I can check off for the week.  God wants a celebration and love.    Her words made me reflect and reevaluate how I spend Sundays.  I want to be excited for Sunday.  I want to make it a time of reflection on Jesus in whatever I’m doing.    Whether I’m compelled to work, or at church, or napping or something else, I want to be celebrating Jesus.  It's extremely hard in our culture to celebrate Jesus; there is a myriad of things to do and places to go.  We live in a culture that thrives on busyness. The results are that there are many things vying for our attentions. It seems that just getting to church is a struggle for most of us, and even when we are there we get distracted by other things.  God’s desire is that we celebrate Jesus and make Sunday incredible. 
So on Sunday, I will:
    Wear my best clothes (because God is important to me, I will dress for HIM)
    Make sure I’m rested (I don’t want to be tired when I meet with God)
    Focus on God (Whatever other things threaten to crowd in, will have to leave.  I’m spending time with God)
    Spend extra time with God
    Make a special “Sunday” tradition.  Growing up, it was a special dinner.  When my daughter was home, it was playing guitar.  I still miss it.

I know that many of these can be done any day of the week, but they can also be done intentionally on Sunday.  Whatever you decide to do, make it a point to celebrate Jesus.  


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Live Fearlessly

                                   As I was driving home today, I passed a person walking on the side of the    road.  Since it was cold, and snowy, I thought I should stop and offer the person a ride.  As I drove on by, I was irritated with myself for not stopping.  I could have and should have but I didn't. Why?  I was scared! Maybe that wouldn't bother you, but I'm willing to bet there are things that make you afraid.  It may be snakes or spiders that send the ticker into  overdrive.  Or maybe it's your job and finances that keep you up at night when you should be resting.  Then again perhaps it's relationships that consume your thoughts and energy.  As followers of God, we know that we are told not to be afraid.  Yet we often are afraid despite everything we know.   As I was driving away from a missed opportunity, I began thinking about what it is that makes us afraid.  I honestly am not sure what it is that causes us to be afraid when we should be bold, but I
Post a Comment
Read more

Tragedy: A Christian Response

I want to start by telling you a story.  We were new parents.  When Our oldest, a son, was about eighteen to twenty months we had another baby, a girl with brown hair and huge eyes.   One day as I went to feed her, my son who may have been two at the time wandered off to another part of the house.  The next thing I heard was a thud.  I grabbed my baby girl and ran to see what happened.  There was my son with a table on top of him.  He had pulled it over on himself and more blood than I had ever seen was running all over.   We put him in the car and dashed for the ER.  It was not a fun trip. He had a skull fracture and many stitches.  Fast forward about fourteen or fifteen years, I’m at a stop light and watch my youngest daughter about ten start across a street on a bike start across a street just as a truck comes around a corner into the path of the bike.  She hit the side of the truck and bounced onto the road.   I grabbed her up and checked her over there were no injuries, but
Post a Comment
Read more

The God of Order

  Yesterday, my children and I went walking on a bike trail.    The weather was perfect.   Sunny, warm but not hot.   As we were walking, we started to talk about creation.   Creation itself always amazes me.     Can you imagine watching creation unfold at the word of the Almighty?   It would be   the most glorious and lovely thing to see.      As we were talking, I asked,  “What do you think would have happed if  God had created people first?”     They stopped  gave me a questioning look then my daughter said, “I suppose that we would have starved because there was no food.”     And we all had a laugh creating  other scenarios for what might  have happened if creation had happened in any other way.      Yet, the   fact is that creation itself demonstrates that God is a God of order.   Each day of creation built on   what had been done the day before.    It also reminds me that God wants our lives to be as orderly as possible. God planned creation before one word was spoken
Post a Comment
Read more