And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
Genesis 2:1–3
Several years ago when I attended the Adult Journey class, the topic of discussion was, “What do you do on Sunday?” I responded that I tried not to do anything work-related so that I could honor the Sabbath. A classmate threw out that perhaps I was just lazy. As this was someone that I admired, it stung.
The conversation went on with my sharing that growing up my mother insisted that we only do what was necessary, such as, preparing meals and cleaning up afterwards. Mom explained to me very early on that God created the whole world in six days and that we should be able to do what was needed in six days as well. Sunday was the day for church, visiting my grandmother, quiet family activities at home, or visiting a museum to see wondrous things. I followed that well into my early 20’s.
At that point I became a working mom that worked all the overtime I could get. Sundays then became the day to catch up on what I didn’t get done or hadn’t finished. It always felt wrong, but what was I to do?
It was when I had our three younger children that I realized that I needed to get back to what God wanted us to do. He blessed the seventh day and hallowed it. The fourth of the Ten Commandments calls for us to "Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it Holy". Sounds good to me, how about you?
Sharon L. B. McGlaughlin
