Taking back Sunday

The Gazette-Virginian | October 24, 2014

Across the nation on Sunday mornings most people are home. Most in our country are not in church on Sunday mornings. How did it get that way? What are the costs to life, family and society? More than we could ever imagine! These could be the most important words you have ever read.

When God said, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy,” he was setting up a schedule of life for the people of God. Do it, and we will be blessed. Do it not, and we miss out on the most important 60 minutes of the week.

Discipline problems in school consisted of chewing gum, reading in class and spitballs and were cured by prompt action. Today drugs, disrespect, bullying and weapons are a part of daily life there. We proudly took our report cards home. Today the school has to call home the day before report cards are issued because many students simply will not take them home, being dishonest about bad grades or lack of work.

We can say that morality has declined, and it has. But if all those kids were in church learning what Jesus teaches about love, respect, hard work and honesty, the school day would be much different.

Our society is rapidly approaching the state of the immoral and corrupt Roman Empire just before it fell. Corrupt politicians, polarization, the acceptance of sin as a norm. And yes, people not in church is a big part of the cause.

I am proposing a campaign across America which begins with the people who read these words that we take back the Sabbath. God wants us to find the benefits and blessings of his original intent for it, and he will energize and support that effort. The other option is a continuation of the deterioration of society resulting in abject failure as a human race.

It’s not so bad, we might say. Missing a Sunday or two is not important. Fast forward a few months or years, maybe a decade or two, and we are asking ourselves why our kids don’t have the values we grew up with. It is because they did not grow up with them, and the onus is directly on us. As Pogo said, “We have met the enemy, and it is us!”

There’s a reason we have one pointer finger on our hand. The other three and the thumb are pointed directly at us.

We might say, “I’ve got work.” There are ways around that with changing priorities. Our families and friends will be amazed at how smart we are.

We might say, “I’m tired.” Well, we might be. But the activities of the week, plus late night and too much TV or alcohol, are not the important ones. Sunday morning worship and education are.

Sunday morning, you see, is where dreams begin. Sunday morning is where life gets its meaning. Everything around us may be going crazy, but God is always the same. He gives us a center, a jumping off point, a perspective which can come from nowhere else. Jesus said, as a 12 year old, “Didn’t you know I should be in my Father’s house?”

More important than our own family is God’s family, of which that same group must be a part. Otherwise, we do things our own limited human way which is destined to fail.

The most important, the most precious, the best spent hour of the week is Sunday morning worship. Better than that is two Sunday mornings, or three, or 10 or 50. If we waste it, we will never recapture it.

In a very real sense, we can’t really take back what is God’s because it is always his. But we should, must and can take that hour from the world, becoming much the better for it!

Source: http://www.yourgv.com/article_05e30944-5acf-11e4-97cb-538f4aa0cc53.html?TNNoMobile