Through the years, Christians have understood Sunday in various ways. In years past, even during my childhood, Sunday was a day of rest, and the majority of businesses were closed. In many parts of the world today, Sundays are so secularized that Sunday differs little from other days of the week. In the United States, the majority of people do not attend church.
One of the reasons for assembly and worship is to rebalance life. I need continued transformation, adjusting my mind and heart. I need to be reminded. I need to be refilled. The average time it takes for the human brain to react is measured in milliseconds. This is the amount of time it takes for what is inside of you to come out. “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).
When I was a youngster, my family and I spent most of our summers visiting Grandma. One of the jobs I had to help with was watering and slopping the pigs. Every day, we had to carry water to the pigpen. We filled the water bucket as full as possible, so we did not have to make as many trips. I know a few things about a water bucket that is filled to overflowing. First, when the bucket is really full, you cannot put any more water in it. Second, it is almost impossible to carry a really full bucket without sloshing a little water out. Third, what comes out of the bucket is what is in the bucket. We also had to carry the slop bucket to the pigpen. Knowing the “full bucket” principles mentioned above, we made sure we slopped the pigs before the slop bucket got full.
Lessons for life. When our hearts are filled with God things, there is no room for other things. We get bumped as we go through life and what is within us will spill out. When that happens, what comes out is what is in our heart. The nature of our lives is reflected in how we react. What is in you will come out…so let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.