(Mark 2:23-28 ESV)
I know that when I was growing up, the only work allowed to be done around the place was only what was absolutely necessary... caring for the animals. The meal was always soup and buns as that could be made ahead of time.
These rules created in me a discomfort. Why couldn't I, if it was needed, wash a load of laundry? Yes, I know it means that I lacked good foresight in my planning, but what was so wrong with it?
Jesus is very clear in this passage. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. HE is Lord of the Sabbath, not man.
Where Baptist folk so wrong to go out for dinner on Sunday and invite guests to come with them? I have to admit, I still struggle with that one. :)
And I don't tend to go shopping on Sunday, or do heavy labour. God gave us a day of rest for a reason. It gives us time to relax from our labours and to focus on something else.... HIM, and our families. A day to take a break from the daily grind and to therefore, refresh ourselves. It's such a good thing to do.
The Pharisees in the time of Jesus had made a rather extensive list of the do's and don'ts for everything. Even plucking a bit of grain to eat if you were hungry was considered work. I would have rebelled against that. I just know it. As it wouldn't have made a lot of sense to me. Just like making children sit still and quiet on a Sunday wouldn't have made sense to me.
I am so glad my parents didn't make me do that. :) We frequently had company over on Sundays so we were allowed to play and run around, just not do anything (other than the dinner dishes) that could be considered work. And if we tried, a sure scolding would take place.
I don't know, do you understand the rules that people make for Sundays?
Do you approach Sundays as a day to focus on God and to change your behaviours? Taking it as a time to recoup your energies, to focus on family and friends, and to worship God?
I have to admit something, when I read stories of how folks had to act on Sundays, I have to wonder why. In books like Little Women, and in a book I'm reading now with my lad on the Loyalists coming to Canada, children are not allowed to do anything on Sundays. They are to spend the day in quiet contemplation, or perhaps going for a stroll. I wonder how that rule (at that time) came into being.