Scripture
Our verse for today comes from Acts 13:44, “The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.”
Background
In the movie That Thing You Do, Mr. Patterson, the dad of the main character, owns Patterson’s appliance store. Helping him to run it are his wife and young adult son and teenage daughter. One Saturday, Mr. Patterson notices in the newspaper an ad for one of his competitors, Tele-Mart, which has the sound and feel of a large chain store. He is mildly shocked to read that they are selling barbecue grills at super low prices and offering shoe-shining kits for people who no longer want to simply get out a rag and polish and shine their shoes.
But what leaves him in bewilderment is the fact that Tele-Mart is now open for business on Sunday, so much so that he says, “I don’t believe I want to live in a country where you have to stay open on Sunday to do business. You shouldn’t have to work on Sunday to support a family, should you?” I don’t know how many, but I have an idea that tons and tons of people go to their local Tele-Marts on Sunday mornings. If not there, then somewhere else. But wherever they are, it’s quite apparent that almost the whole city is not gathered to hear the word of the Lord. True, some may have been to their Saturday night service or experienced church online. If our culture is anything, it’s all about options.
Application
But culture and shopping aside, the word of the Lord makes a pretty strong case that God is about as interested in how we spend our time as He is in almost anything else. And even though Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath, He did still say that the Sabbath was made, and it has a purpose. To be sure, God is probably not as confined as we are to a seven day, 24-hour calendar. But regardless of how you spend your 168 hours from one Sunday to the next, chances are that they could have been spent differently, and probably better.
The problem is, they’re spent. So now, all you can do is look back and decide if you need to make any adjustments going forward, and then choose whether to make them or not. We’re not ever going to get the Food Lions and Home Depots empty on Sundays. But we can dedicate all of our time to the Lord, and let Him fill it as it pleases Him, no matter the day or the hour.
Charge
As we seek Him today, look forward to looking back on your day and knowing that you spent it in a way the pleases and honors your Heavenly Father.
