When did Sunday go from being the Day of the Lord to an hour for the Lord…maybe…unless…you know….there is something more interesting or important in my life?
That is where it is for the overwhelming members of the USA, Canada, and Europe. I daresay that even the overwhelming majority of those who identify as Roman Catholics are the same.
I remember, as a child, that the only places open on Sunday were churches and hospitals (maybe there were others). The only people who had to work were emergency, medical, law enforcement, and ministers/priests. I don’t remember there being organized sports leagues (non-professional) or practices scheduled on Sundays.
I suppose as Church and God became less important in our culture-- that the concept of a day of rest did as well. Now everything except Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A seems to be open, sports have soaked up even the Sunday mornings (got to get all the games for the tournaments in), and Sunday is as busy as the rest of the week. I am sure that isn’t contributing to how worn out most people feel. Not at all.
It is worth noting that our demands on God did not diminish one iota. He was supposed to keep us protected from all harm, give us all we need and want, punish our enemies, or otherwise get blamed for everything. I don’t know about you, but I just love being in relationships with people like that!
Perhaps the loss of the Day of the Lord is just another sign that we went from being Servants of the Lord to being God’s boss in our minds. The Day of the Lord just became more roadkill on our widening highway to hell.
We aren’t learning the lesson of history, which is we only push God away at our own peril. God will abide by our decision to be pushed away. He is no one’s errand boy. He loves us, but He is no fool.
When a life for Christ got reduced to just a day of Christ, got reduced to an hour for Christ…no wonder that even that hour seems too burdensome for most. Yet we still have the audacity to say God dang well better open the doors of heaven for us who spent our lives ignoring Him…because, you know, if there is a God, then He better be a patsy who allows me in anyway…so I can ignore Him in heaven as I do on earth. So I can worship in heaven the same gods I did on earth. I am so sure that God will just be happy to accommodate our idolatry in His home…or maybe not.
Turn around before it is too late!