Tuesday, October 23, 2007

the laundry can wait

"Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest. Exodus 34:21

On Tuesday nights, we attend a Shepherd Group led and attended by people from our church...it is a family affair for us as it is a Bible study for Bob and I while all the kids play in the basement with a babysitter. Tonight we had a dinner together instead of the study (gave the guy teaching a break for one week) and inevitably all the ladies ended up together in a round table discussion about various things going on in our lives. My friend Courtney brought up a topic that I had NEVER considered and that is How to Keep the Sabbath Holy. Wow. The last time I gave that any thought was in reading the Ten Commandments to Lindsey and that wasn't in the context of how to honor it...We just get so busy with our day to day lives that going to church is the only thing that differentiates it from the other days of the week. That isn't what God's intent was...Sunday has become a catch-all for everything that didn't get done during the week. But God intended it to be a day of rest...and He meant it...He made it a Commandment for crying out loud! Through Jesus, we aren't under the law anymore, so we cannot be legalistic about it, as they were in Old Testament times. But, in our discussion, the point was made that if we do honor that day we are ultimately blessed by it. For the last few weeks or so, I have the made a considerable effort not to do laundry on Sunday. I try to do it once a day or any combination of other days, all with the idea of not having to do it on Sundays. I set out with the thought that I didn't want to be bogged down with it for at least one day of the week so that I could have family time. What I didn't realize is that forgoing laundry on that day really is one small way (or baby step) that I am honoring the Sabbath. The conversation we had was thought provoking and really requires prayer in asking the Lord how He wants us to use that day for not only being fed spiritually at church but in honoring Him. Right now, I have no idea what that looks like...perhaps for us personally it is just being together as a family and not worrying about all the "gotta do's." The enemy is very insidious that way as he tries to drive a wedge between us and the Lord through our busyness...and it all seems so innocent doesn't it? Clearly our omniscient, sovereign Father knew that when He commanded us to "Keep the Sabbath Holy." Perhaps we should just "live" and not "do" on Sunday...we are honoring our Heavenly Father and not giving in to the enemy.....

3 Comments:

Courtney said...

you put it SO much better than i do! you're so eloquent. i feel like i can never communicate what my heart and mind are saying...love what you said!

Debbie said...

thanks!! Your thoughts inspire me!

Tracey said...

I am so excited you are giving this careful consideration, you won't believe the blessing that will come from honoring God in this way. I sometimes forget, because this is something we started doing before we had Noah. We made a commitment not to do any chores or errands on Sunday, that doesn't mean we let the dishes pile up in the sink or leave things all over the house on Sunday (that would lead to a dreadful Monday), but it does mean we that if it needs to be done on the weekend it better get done on Saturday or too bad, it has to wait until Monday. It changed our whole weekend and made us less likely to procrastinate on Saturdays and more time for each other on Sundays. Way to go Norbergs, can't wait to hear how this looks for you!