I looked at the clock and sighed, frustrated with yet another Sunday evening spent in a haze of laundry. Socks, undershirts, pants, work shirts, and towels stood in piles waiting to be put away while I took out the last load from the dryer. Eleven p.m. and NOT all was well.

My Sabbath Was Broken

Lying in bed 20 minutes later, I knew something had to change. And I knew where to start …

A few weeks ago, I discussed a niggling in the back of my mind that my Sabbath was broken. The gift of time God had given us with a 7th day to rest just wasn’t happening in my world. I wanted to recapture some of the feeling I had as a child on Sundays: the slower pace, time with family, and a more contemplative approach to the day.

I wanted more margin in my day for reading, walks, visits, or even, dare I say, time to just sit and think or pray. I thought through my day and realized that every Sunday had a common, time-sucking, frustrating activity: laundry. I never seemed to remember to throw in a load throughout the week, so Sunday would roll around and I would be stuck with a mountain of dirty clothes.

The simple key to my problem lay in taking that task off of Sunday’s docket.

I decided to spread that chore out over the other days of the week, using Saturday as my catch-up day. Saturday morning, while the last load or two is washing, I also work on cleaning the house. By the time Saturday afternoon rolls around, I have a clean house and clean laundry.

Slow-down Time

The result being that on Sunday, my husband and I now go to church and came home to tidiness and drawers full of clean clothes — and time on our hands. The first free Sunday, we spent the afternoon on an autumn walk, exploring a new trail and God’s breathtaking creation. I can’t quite describe the peace that having a margin of time gives me.

I luxuriate in the freedom to spend this day more as God intended, not lost in a haze of mundane chores and stressful striving. I know I need to make tweeks to my schedule still, and as I continue to explore this topic,  I will.

How about you? Are you looking for a little margin in your Sunday to help you celebrate the Sabbath? I have a few suggestions:

1. Honestly evaluate your Sunday. What chore is causing you the most stress/taking up the most time? What is the next thing?
2. Can you move the time-sucking activity to another day? If not, look at the next item on your list. Can that be changed or moved?
3. If neither of them can be adjusted, then pray about whether you really need to be involved in this activity. Or, perhaps you’re involved in ministry work and Sunday is the busiest day of the week. Make sure you’re not scheduling afternoon meetings that could be moved to a different day. As some other pastors do, you may need to take your Sabbath on a different day of the week.

What Does the Rest of the Week Look Like?

Most likely you’ll also need to consider your schedule on the other six days of the week so that you can free up some time on Sunday.

Now I realize as an empty-nester, I have more leeway because I no longer have kids’ activities to worry about. However, when our children were home, we made some hard choices. Each child was allowed to participate in one activity besides youth group, and that was it. And that activity could not include travel sports, because my husband and I decided we were not going to spend every weekend on the road. That was not a healthy, sustainable life for us.

If your children are involved in multiple activities that have you running nonstop, it’s time to reevaluate. It is perfectly acceptable to say “no” to too many activities. Prayerfully determine your priorities as the parent and decide how to implement that decision for your family.

Let’s not accept the status quo. It’s time to take back our Sundays. Creating margin in your day just may be the spark you and your family need to breathe, grow, and thrive.

Pray on!

 

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:2

In the Greek, law transliterates as nomos which means a precept, an injunction, a rule of action, a set of behaviors that leads to God’s approval. Torah, the Hebrew word for law, refers to Mosaic law. It is by the flawless keeping of God’s law one may go to heaven … unfortunately, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Even the keeping of the New Testament short list (see above) is an impossibility. Fortunately, God’s Word offers us something besides the LAW of sin and death  … the law of the Spirit of life, otherwise known as GRACE.

Because Christ offered His perfect sinless life as a sacrifice, we may live for Christ, and one day join Him in heaven. We must acknowledge our sin and need for a Savior, and accept Jesus death on the cross as payment for our sin.

Grace over LAW. Life over death. Righteousness over sin.

Action Points:

1. In what ways are you still trying to earn God’s approval?
2. You know God’s law, the one you broke about twenty years ago, that you think is unforgivable? It was paid for 2,000 years ago at the cross. It’s time to let it go. Thank God for His forgiveness and sacrifice.
3. Now that you’re free, what do you need to start doing?

God Bless America.

Please enjoy the music below.

 

“law.” Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 01 Jul. 2015. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/law>.

Out of my distress I called on the LORD;
the LORD answered me and set me free.

Psalm 118:5

“free.” Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 28 Jun. 2015. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/firm>.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Galatians 5:1

Why has Christ set us free? So we can be free.  God does not want us to be enslaved to any sin or habit. The chains of sin  prevent us from walking with Christ.  If we have accepted Christ as our Savior, we have the power, at any moment, to let it (sin) go.

Anger … let it go. Wrath … let it go. Bitterness … let it go.  Jealousy, hatred, envy, vengeance … let it go. When we let these injurious things go, we will be able to receive God’s healing and blessing.

As our verse states, freedom requires work. We must stand firm and not let ourselves be burdened again with sinful thoughts, attitudes and habits. We have been freed so we can set these things free. Let them go and let Him fill us up.

Action Points:

1. Name one thing you need to let go.

2. If you let it go, how will your life change?

3. What will you do in place of the item you let go?

 

Life is sweet.

“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Hebrews 12:15 (NIV)

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14 (NIV)

Today is the second day of our Holy Week series, and the stanza of the poem that is our focus is the following:

Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.

(Click here for the complete poem. Here is the first day of the series on Judging.)

Imagine sitting down on a hot summer day to a bowl full of frosty, juicy, crisp grapes that burst in your mouth with… bitterness. Can you imagine how awful that would taste? Bitterness leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. According to Hebrews 12:15, we are to guard against bitterness because one bitter heart can defile and trouble many people. Bitterness is a sign of unforgiveness. In the original Greek, bitterness means “extreme wickedness, hatred, virulence and harshness.”  And as the Bible verse suggests, if left untended, bitterness will root and grow and produce a harvest of destruction. It’s true in our lives that a bitter root yields a bitter fruit.

The word bitter when traced back  to its origin means “to fasten, to fasten something together, to construct something by fastening it together.” So if we are bitter against a person in a literal sense by withholding forgiveness, we are fastening that person to us and dragging them with us wherever we may go! Do you see now one of the reasons why bitterness is so destructive? We are forever tying ourselves to that very thing we are bitter about, which is preventing us from healing. As Joyce Meyer says, “You may have a reason to be bitter, but by the word of God, you do not have a right.”

What is the antidote then for bitterness? Forgiveness. Forgiveness means to release someone from prison or from bondage. Forgiving someone does not mean that what they did to us is okay; it means we are releasing them from our own vengeance and giving them over to God. Sometimes the one we may be bitter against and need to release from bondage is ourself.  This Easter let us pray and ask God to help make us willing to lay aside our bitterness and trade it in for forgiveness. Let’s set a few captives free. That’s what Easter is all about, isn’t it?

Application: So during this Holy Week, what is it that you need to leave at the feet of the cross? Who or what are you bitter against that you need to let go, that you need to forgive? Let the first captive that’s set free be you.

Prayer: Dear Lord, it can be difficult releasing bitterness. That heavy thing we’re dragging around feels normal after a while. Help us to let go, release, and forgive so that we can experience the joy and lightness of living in forgiveness and freedom. Amen.

Image courtesy of domdeen / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image: markuso / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Franciscan Benediction

May God bless you with discomfort

At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships,

So that you may live deep within your heart.

 

May God bless you with anger

At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,

So that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

 

May God bless you with tears

To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war,

So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and

To turn their pain into joy.

 

May God bless you with enough foolishness

To believe that you can make a difference in the world,

So that you can do what others claim cannot be done

To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

Amen.

(from many sources, including Prayer, Does It Make Any Difference by Philip Yancey, p. 105)