The First Day Of The Week ---- Just Whose Day Is It?

The first day of the week is unlike any other day of the week. When John received his vision from the Lord of future events while exiled on the island of Patmos, he spoke of it as happening on "the Lord's day" (Revelation 1:10).

The Lord is strongly identified with the first day of the week, due to the fact that it was on that day that He rose from the dead (Matthew 28:1-6). The same day that we as Christians, offer our worship to Him and remember His sacrificial death in observing the Lord's Supper (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26). No wonder the Hebrew writer exhorted the brethren who were wavering in faith, not to forsake the assembling of themselves together (Hebrews 10:25).

This writer has often wondered why some members of the Lord's church take the Lord's Day so lightly, making it into "another day." Another day such as "bed day" — For some, sleeping in is what receives priority on this day. For others, it's "lake day" — spending the day in recreational activities. And then for others, it's "washing the car" day. Then there's "yard day" — mowing and edging the lawn to spruce up the property. There's also, "hangover day" — for those who use this day to recover from previous late-night activities.

Why do some Christians choose to trivialize the day that Christ considers important enough to call His own? Why do we sometimes choose this day over every other day of the week to do less important tasks that could be accomplished at some other time and day of the week? Brethren, does assembling together with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to worship the Creator of the universe (John 1:1-3; Ephesians 3:9), mean so little to us anymore?

Let us remember that if we don't enjoy assembling with the saints here upon the earth for a minuscule period of time, how in the world will we ever enjoy assembling with the saints, offering our worship to the Lord for eternity in Heaven? (Revelation 5:9-14; Revelation 7:9-12). And if we find it difficult to assemble with the saints on the Lord's Day, what does this say about our commitment to serving the Lord every other day of the week? (Luke 9:23; cf. note the word, "daily"; Acts 2:46; Acts 16:5; Acts 17:11; Hebrews 3:13).

Such attitudes reveal the fact that we not only "trivialize" the Lord's Day at times, but our worship to the Lord is worship that is not "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24 KJV). Let us honestly and thoroughly examine our attitude in our consideration of the first day of the week, and ask ourselves, "Just whose day is it?"

Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets




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