Weekend or Week-Beginning
We think and speak of the work week and the weekend. Perhaps, we should think in terms of the week-beginning and the work week. Let me explain. The Apostle John writes, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17).
The Mosaic legal system contained a provision for observing the Sabbath, which is the seventh day of the week, Saturday. Moses writes, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Ex. 20:8-11). The Mosaic legal system is simple enough: work six days and rest on the seventh. It is patterned after the creation work week. God Himself worked and rested on the seventh day.
Jesus flipped it. He brought grace. In the grace system, God gives. Then we work. In that well-worn passage Paul says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). The grace system is simple enough: God saves us by His grace. Then out of gratitude, we work. It is the exact opposite of the Mosaic Law.
It is no accident that in the New Testament, believers observed Sunday, the first day of the week, rather than Saturday, the seventh day of the week. Luke records, “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them” (Acts 20:7). Paul instructs the Corinthians, “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come” (1 Cor. 16:2).
The Sabbath is a day of rest after a week of work; Sunday is a day of remembrance before the work week.
We need to change the way we think about the week. Instead of thinking, “I have worked hard all week. The weekend is my time off to do what I want.” We should think, “Sunday is the day to remember God’s gift of His Son, who arose from the dead on the first day of the week.” With that attitude adjustment, we are ready to take on a new week with a new attitude of gratitude. That change of thinking will change your whole life, not just your week.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 5/31/2006
The Mosaic legal system contained a provision for observing the Sabbath, which is the seventh day of the week, Saturday. Moses writes, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Ex. 20:8-11). The Mosaic legal system is simple enough: work six days and rest on the seventh. It is patterned after the creation work week. God Himself worked and rested on the seventh day.
Jesus flipped it. He brought grace. In the grace system, God gives. Then we work. In that well-worn passage Paul says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). The grace system is simple enough: God saves us by His grace. Then out of gratitude, we work. It is the exact opposite of the Mosaic Law.
It is no accident that in the New Testament, believers observed Sunday, the first day of the week, rather than Saturday, the seventh day of the week. Luke records, “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them” (Acts 20:7). Paul instructs the Corinthians, “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come” (1 Cor. 16:2).
The Sabbath is a day of rest after a week of work; Sunday is a day of remembrance before the work week.
We need to change the way we think about the week. Instead of thinking, “I have worked hard all week. The weekend is my time off to do what I want.” We should think, “Sunday is the day to remember God’s gift of His Son, who arose from the dead on the first day of the week.” With that attitude adjustment, we are ready to take on a new week with a new attitude of gratitude. That change of thinking will change your whole life, not just your week.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 5/31/2006