Norman Rockwell is one of those people I would liked to have met. He is an American icon for painting real people in real life situations. Nostalgic, thoughtful, endearing, and poetic paintings are thoughts that come to mind when I look at his work. I love this particular painting 'Sunday dinner.'
Of late I have been wrestling with 'Keep the Sabbath holy'. It has been a good wrestle. I have challenge myself to keep the day, the whole day, not just the morning, holy. My shopping needs to get tidied before Sunday as do my chores. Sunday is a day of rest. That includes my family and every family on the planet (to the very best of their abilities). If I go shopping or out to eat on Sunday to a restaurant, what message am I sending to the waiters and cooks? It's okay for you to work and serve me?
Jesus says in John 14:21, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who lives Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
We are a culture in decline. It wasn't until the 1960's that everything changed on Sunday's. Streets used to be quiet, not many cars on the road, stores were closed (just like Chic fil a). But retail, restaurants and the NFL decided that Sunday's would be 'another day' to do business. We purposely choose activities and sports for our children that do NOT have games on Sunday. It is not just another day, it's the Lord's day! A day to plan for and look forward to. We can easily get swept up in our modern conveniences and forget to live before a holy God. We must cultivate a comprehensive viewpoint consistent with our faith in Christ or we will look around one day and wonder how we got to be a faithless nation.
"Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God..." Genesis 6:9 I pray God will look around at our country and find us faithful through the decisions we make according to His word.
"Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not slip." Psalm 26:1 Our integrity is being one with God, integrated into Him.
Giving thought to how we are going to spend our Lord's day has become a day of anticipation for me. Not just to celebrate together at church but also to think about preparing a dinner and inviting family or friends over for the afternoon. I got a couple of one-pot dish cookbooks out of the library to help me prep up my menu on Saturday night so that after church most of the meal is ready. Why are we so extra hungry after church?
I want our table to be a place of gathering and cherishing the treasure of fellowship for our family. I don't necessarily know who might come on a given Sunday, but the Lord does and I am curious to see whom he will invite next to our table.
Coram Deo,
E.W.
Of late I have been wrestling with 'Keep the Sabbath holy'. It has been a good wrestle. I have challenge myself to keep the day, the whole day, not just the morning, holy. My shopping needs to get tidied before Sunday as do my chores. Sunday is a day of rest. That includes my family and every family on the planet (to the very best of their abilities). If I go shopping or out to eat on Sunday to a restaurant, what message am I sending to the waiters and cooks? It's okay for you to work and serve me?
Jesus says in John 14:21, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who lives Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
We are a culture in decline. It wasn't until the 1960's that everything changed on Sunday's. Streets used to be quiet, not many cars on the road, stores were closed (just like Chic fil a). But retail, restaurants and the NFL decided that Sunday's would be 'another day' to do business. We purposely choose activities and sports for our children that do NOT have games on Sunday. It is not just another day, it's the Lord's day! A day to plan for and look forward to. We can easily get swept up in our modern conveniences and forget to live before a holy God. We must cultivate a comprehensive viewpoint consistent with our faith in Christ or we will look around one day and wonder how we got to be a faithless nation.
"Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God..." Genesis 6:9 I pray God will look around at our country and find us faithful through the decisions we make according to His word.
"Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not slip." Psalm 26:1 Our integrity is being one with God, integrated into Him.
Giving thought to how we are going to spend our Lord's day has become a day of anticipation for me. Not just to celebrate together at church but also to think about preparing a dinner and inviting family or friends over for the afternoon. I got a couple of one-pot dish cookbooks out of the library to help me prep up my menu on Saturday night so that after church most of the meal is ready. Why are we so extra hungry after church?
I want our table to be a place of gathering and cherishing the treasure of fellowship for our family. I don't necessarily know who might come on a given Sunday, but the Lord does and I am curious to see whom he will invite next to our table.
Coram Deo,
E.W.
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