Or, TGIF or TGISun?
“Working for the weekend” is a fixation in the American culture. TGIF! We slave away Mondays-Fridays, and just let it all hang out Friday evenings till Sunday nights. The result? Monday morning blues. Hangover. Worn out at work.
God performed his work of creation in six days, then “rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.” Therefore, “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy (Gen 2:1-3). So he also commanded his people Israel, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God” (Exo 20:8-10).
How are we to rest on the Sabbath? We are to worship him, morning and evening, “A Song for the Sabbath: “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night” (Psalm 92:1-2).
God warned his people not to neglect the holy Sabbath assembly by working (Jer 17:24-25), and doing their own pleasures (Isa 58:13-14). The Preacher says, “everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil – this is God’s gift to man” (Eccl 3:13). And one of these pleasures of life is the celebration of the Sabbath.
God’s people are to work in this life and enjoy the fruits of their physical labors six days a week. But in that one day of the week, the Sabbath rest, which is now the first day of the week, they are to take pleasure in the worship of God. The Sabbath rest is not merely a day off from all our work, but a day in which to rest – and delight – in God’s appointed day of meeting with his people in worship.
Therefore, work for the Sabbath, instead of the weekend! For the Sabbath assembly is your true delight and true rest in this age and in the age to come.