thanks everybody! this was as interesting as I hoped it would be!
You know, I gotta agree with people, if more wouldn't go out to eat Sunday, more would be closed! Truient Cathy (Chick-Fil-Lay) has the right idea with choosing to be closed!
In a perfect world, Christians would fix food for their law and hospital workers Saturday, and take it to them Sunday. The Christians could maybe also watch the nurses kids.
In the OT God referred to the Promised Land as His rest, His Sabbath. Psa 95:10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
Psa 95:11 Unto whom I swore in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. God was so angry with these people that He refused to allow them to enter into all of the glory, pleasure and blessings of His Rest. But because of His immeasurable mercy and the power of His grace we are able to enter into His rest through the blood of Jesus. Instead of the physical Promised Land we take our rest in the Spiritual Promised Land. We have received the promise, we are living every day from now into eternity in His Rest. Our Sabbath is not in the resting of our bodies but in the resting of our spirits because we no longer have to fear the world, the devil, hell or death. We are able to rest and so we are free. John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Like I've said before, weeks are circular, so picking the beginning and end of the week is like asking me where a circle starts. Several of my jobs have been 6 days a week, with only Sunday off. Working 6 days and taking the 7th to rest and rejoice in God seems pretty in line with what Exodus 31:15 says to me.
More importantly, as Jesus establishes time and time again, God is very concerned with our hearts and not as much with our actions. If you have a job that requires you to work on Sunday but allows you to take a Wednesday off, wouldn't it make more sense to just mark Wednesday as your 7th day and your Sabbath? It is much more about setting at least a day aside for God than it is about trying to figure out the exact day we have to worship.
And what about pastors? They have to work whatever day is called the Sabbath. Wouldn't it make sense for them to have a true Sabbath on another day of the week?
Have to do what God asks though. It's a test of faith. I think it's supposed to be a sacrifice. If you do it your way, then you'd be planning your sabbath around yourself and your schedule. That doesn't sound "ok" to me, but it is a personal conviction thing. You're fine unless God convicts you otherwise. And it's not just about "work/rest", that's the letter of the law. I think the spirit of the law is "focus on God and others instead of yourself and your pursuits" which is why it would be ok for Clergy/medical/etc personnel to "work". It's lawful to do good on the sabbath.
Anyway, the only time I get on my soap box is when people say that God/Jesus changed the sabbath to something else. There's no biblical evidence for that at all. It's one of the ten commandments, breaking it was a sin at some point, so if God changed it, He would have said so very clearly so as to avoid confusion. If your personal convictions permit you to keep any day holy, that's cool. I just don't think God changed it, because I sure can't find it in there. There's been only one holy day that has existed since creation and if he wanted us to observe another one every week, He would have told us. It's a symbol/celebration of His power. I don't think it's any coincidence that Jesus died right before sundown on Friday, rested in the grave on the Sabbath, and then rose on Sunday. It was that important. The whole plan of salvation centered around it.
@ violacat: You posted, "Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight." Acts 20:7
and you assume that because all of the Apostles were gathered for dinner on a Sunday that this had something to do with worshiping on Sunday?
