"Family Matters"
By Paul Kendall

Everyone Deserves A Sabbath

Monday through Friday is typically filled with hectic work schedules for adults and equally hectic school schedules for our children. Saturday for many is catch up day for cleaning, shopping, mowing the lawn and home repairs. Sunday can easily become a day to just do everything you didn’t get done on Saturday. We are the busiest generation in history and if you’re not careful the week can pass you by without proper rest. Just like automobiles are designed to require proper maintenance, our manufacturer has designed us to require a day of rest.

Genesis 2:2 “He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.” Many Christians get so busy with church work that they sabotage any hope for a true Sabbath. Actually for some Christians, Sunday can easily become the most hectic day of the week! I remember years ago when I was a minister of music at a church; Sunday mornings - we would often oversleep because we’d been out late the night before. Then we would get up and frantically shower and run around shouting things like “Socks!… where are my socks?” Or “I don’t have time to iron that for you… I’m gonna be late as it is!” And then we’d cross in the hallway and I’d see the way my son was dressed and say “No way - there’s no way he’s going to church looking’ like that. HONEY! he looks like he’s got on MY CLOTHES…” and then my wife would go through the whole explanation of buying clothes a little big because he was growing so fast..

Then we would speed to the church – bickering all the way – and then I’d open the door to the platform – put on a big, fake smile and say “Isn’t it good to be in the house of the Lord!”

After the service, I might say “Oh, I invited some people over for lunch.” “WHAT?!” My wife would say… “Are you KIDDING me? We were gonna go to McDonalds and besides that – the house is a WRECK!” So I’d tell her “You go on and I’ll stall them for ten or fifteen minutes…” and this would produce enough frustration to last the rest of the day.

Week after week, year after year, we lost our Sabbaths. Eventually, we learned the importance of having a day of rest and worship; Mark 15:42 “Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath…” You see, it was a common practice – even in the time of Christ to PREPARE for this important day. 

So we began to prepare; Saturday night we laid our clothes out and made sure we knew where the socks were. We discussed our lunch plans for the next day and we got to bed at a decent time. What a difference that made! You see… everyone deserves a Sabbath; a day of rest and worship. I went so far as to say that no one should be upset on that day – it should be a day of peace. If there’s an issue, it’s really not that difficult to wait one day to address it.

This Saturday night – take a little time to prepare for your family’s day of rest and worship. Then, get up Sunday, take the family to church and enjoy the day. God says you need it!

Guard your Sabbath and don’t let anyone or anything steal it from you and, come Sunday, the smile on your face… will be real. 

That's Family Matters... I'm Paul Kendall.

Paul Kendall is the host of the popular syndicated radio program "Family Matters" and author of a new book by the same name. Radio programs, family resources and much more are available at www.KendallFamilyNetwork.com.