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For 40+ years, I had a job almost every Sunday. I no longer have a weekly preaching responsibility as a local preacher, but most Sundays I still have a job, an obligation to preach or teach somewhere. But over the last year, I have had a few Sundays “off”. My first task has been to learn the new rhythms. How does one approach the Lord’s Day in “resting” mode? One thing I have learned: my Sabbathing rhythm is not to sleep in until the last moment possible and then hurry off to church.

Here is some of what I have learned–things that makes my Sundays special for me in my relationship with God.

Sabbathing is best understood as a night and day activity. My best Sabbathing begins during the evening of the night before. The Bible is right when it declares the evening and morning cycle. Effective Sabbathing seldom begins on Sunday morning.

Limiting “normal” activities enhances Sabbathing. Knowing God’s presence is made easier with changes of routines and elimination of busyness. For me, this ideally begins on Saturday evening or night.

Sabbathing can be helped by “spiritual” activities, including fellowship, conversations, leisurely meals, and unhurried lives which include an awareness of God.

Sabbathing is an internal reality and attitude and it is easier when one is rested. Friday night and Saturday are the weekend–Sunday is the first day of the week. Sabbathing is not necessarily a lack of activity–it is the calming of the body and soul.

Although prayer is a part of life every day and at any time, a time of more frequent prayer is helpful in bringing tranquility to the soul.

Reading the Bible is good, but leisurely meditation and contemplation bring the word alive in my heart and soul.

Jan and I get up about the same time on Sunday as on other days. We try to avoid intense activity. We seek to focus our spiritual attention. Even writing this blog has been calming today as I analyze my life in God’s gracious presence. Because he is at work, I do not have to be concerned today with life’s needs or opportunities. God and I will handle those things together this week–only let me this day find rest for my soul.

Seize the moment! How do we do that? What activity or activities represent a wise use of our time? How do we balance life? How do we establish priorities?
I remember a sermon I heard a long time ago. It was based on the last few verses of Matthew 6. Seek the kingdom and his righteousness first. Today is sufficient, tomorrow will have its own problems.
Today is all we have. We have today–yesterday is gone and the record cannot be rewritten. Tomorrow is only a promise today. “This is the day….”
Today is all we need. Today we can seek the kingdom and righteousness, regardless of how full our lives may be. Everything God desires of us today can be done today. No need for procrastination. Do it today.
Today is all we can handle. Some people drive themselves crazy (figuratively, or even literally) by worrying about yesterday or worrying about tomorrow. Tomorrow will bring its own unique set of challenges and problems. Handle today and tomorrow will be easier. Handle today and yesterday’s difficulties will fade.

This is the day! (Psalm 118:24)

Forgetting is not easy. The more I try to forget, the more I remember. This difficulty of forgetting is apparently a part of the human experience and defense mechanism. When something or someone has a negative impact in my life, it is natural to try to avoid a repetition.
I have been reminded of this truth several times in the past few months. Regardless of how much I individually and personally may want to forgive someone and forget the past, others who have been hurt much more deeply than I have keep the memory alive.

Lessons:

While I seek forgiveness and restored relationship even at a minimal level, others see only the possibility of danger and more hurt.

When others have been hurt, I cannot rush the process by which others forget the past and restore relationship.

I cannot force other people to forget.

My efforts at peace-making may have an effect opposite to what I intend–my efforts may cause others to remember rather than to forget. Peace-making sometimes stirs up trouble rather than eliminating it.

When hurts run deep and suspicion runs high, people remember a long time.

Forgetting is never forced, it must be natural. The more I try to forget, the more I remember. One must never forget how hard it is to forget.

True story.
Two Christian men were making visits on behalf of their church. They drove into a subdivision, successfully made their visit, and were ready to leave the subdivision, but….
The driver could not find his way out of the subdivision! He tried several times but kept driving in circles and finding himself on streets he had already driven. Finally, in exasperation, he said to his companion, a civil engineer, “I wonder what idiot designed this subdivision!” To which his companion responded, “I did.”
After the driver asked his friend for directions, exiting the subdivision was relatively easy. The man who had designed the circuitous streets of the subdivision knew the way out. I wonder if we are sometimes like that driver. We keep going in circles, seeking our own way and directions, when Jesus is right beside us, and he knows the way. In fact, he IS the way (John 14:6).
When you are uncertain of the way to go, ask the one who is the way, the truth, and the life!

I like acronyms. Through the years, I have enjoyed making them up. Now one can find long lists of acronyms on the web, acronyms for just about everything.

I like it best when an acronym has a dual meaning. A number of years ago, I entered a new ministry and one of the first activities was to have each member fill out a worker questionnaire. In the days before computers and easy tabulation methods, we tabulated the results the old-fashioned way—by taking each questionnaire and writing the member’s name on the appropriate worker lists. It went a lot faster when we scotch-taped the worker lists to some tables in the fellowship hall (tables and lists in order), and then had volunteers help get the names from the questionnaires onto the worker lists. We promised those who would help pizza afterward. Thus, a PIZZA party—a Precise Inventory of the Zeal and Zest Available.

Perhaps my love for acronyms explains why the sign in front of the church building caught my attention. “Use GPS: God’s Plan of Salvation”. The sign caught my attention because the phrase is one that is used frequently in the churches I minister with. I do not know what the church displaying the sign teaches about GPS. It really doesn’t matter. Nor does it matter what I teach about GPS. What matters is what God teaches about GPS.

Perhaps 2011 would be a good time to read through the New Testament again, trying to understand as completely as possible the purpose and plan of God for the salvation of the world. God has acted for the salvation of the world. Not everyone will be saved—the New Testament rejects universalism. Those God saves obediently respond to his love and grace according to his instructions, not according to human preferences or teachings. Further, responding to God involves more than one’s initial salvation experience. Salvation involves our daily life committed to God’s purpose and buoyed by God’s presence.

Use GPS.

I admit it–sometimes I think about strange things.
Today I am thinking about the special blessing I have had to live at this particular time in history. In Bible classes, we try to think about what it would have been like to live in the time of Abraham, or Moses, or Jesus, or at some location described in Acts during the early development of the church. Last night in Bible class, we contemplated life during the last half of the first century A.D. Have you thought recently about the uniqueness of your time in history?
Today I am thinking about the people I have known–those who have lived through some of the same time in history as I have. I am thinking of the rapidly changing nature of our world during the last half-century plus. I am thinking about some of the countless thousands of people we have met and known. My life has been blessed by those whose lives touched, connected, and intertwined.
If you are reading this blog, there is a good chance you are among the special people I am referring to. Today I celebrate life in the moment. Thank you for being part of my life.

[Working on an article–here is a draft of my introduction. What connections have you observed between legalism and mediocrity?]

The ultimate result of legalism is mediocrity—a willingness to do the minimum, a lack of motivation to go beyond that which is required.

Perhaps you have seen this quote from Alexander Solzhenitsyn:
“A society based on the letter of the law and never reaching any higher, fails to take advantage of the full range of human possibilities. The letter of the law is too cold and formal to have a beneficial influence on society. Whenever the tissue of life is woven of legalistic relationships, this creates an atmosphere of spiritual mediocrity that paralyzes men’s noblest impulses.”

Good, better, best. The sequence of positive superlatives is not always easy for children to learn in English class. I suggest it is sometimes equally difficult for adults to learn in daily life.
Paul wrote to the Philippians, praying that they might know how to discern what is best (1:11). How often do we sacrifice the best in favor of that which is merely good? How often do we fail to reach our potential spiritually because we are satisfied with the minimum? The good is sometimes the enemy of the best.
Today, I will seek to do what is best! I will seek to discern the highest good and work toward it. I will not be satisfied with mediocrity, even if that mediocrity is seen by some as good. Life is not about goodness which is defined by the avoidance of evil. Life is about proactively seeking the best possible.
Today, will you be satisified with what is good, or will you seek the best?