On the first day of the week . . . they found the stone rolled
away from the tomb. Luke 24:1-2
This is the time of year when I go on "the hunt"not for after-holiday
deals on decorations but for the perfect calendar. I start looking in December, but I
don't get serious about my search until January. My requirements are simple: I want a
week-at-a-glance, book-type calendar that will lie open on the counter near the telephone.
It must also begin each week with Sunday, not Monday. It's this last criterion that
complicates my search. More and more calendars start the week with Monday, the day God
considers second.
This trend, like others in our culture, gives the least prominence to what God considers
most important. He chose to give special significance to 2 days of the week, the first and
the last. He rested on the seventh day after creating the world (Genesis 2:1-3), and on
the first day Christ rose from the dead after redeeming the world (Luke 24:1-7). Under the
Old Covenant, the last day was reserved for rest. Today, under the New Covenant, believers
celebrate the first day of the week in remembrance of Christ's resurrection.
Although the calendar I use is not crucial to my faith, it does help me remember that my
life begins and ends not with the work I do for myself but with the work God does for me
as I worship and rest.
-JAL
Thinking It Over
Do I make time in my schedule for worship and rest?
How can worship transform my thinking and living?
How can rest help me to see God and life more clearly?
Time spent with the Lord is time well spent.