Luke 2: 49  “Why were you searching for me?” 12-year-old Jesus asked.  “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

God created the world in six days, and on the seventh day He rested (Genesis 1:1-2:2). That day became the Sabbath, meaning “to rest from labor.” When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, one of them was “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8).

As a child, I really didn’t grasp the meaning of Sabbath day, but I knew that on Sunday morning my parents and I went to church.  Mother would prepare foods in advance to fix for Sunday dinner after church, and I also remember Dad stretched out in his reclining chair pretty much the remainder of the day.  Sometimes friends or family members would come for dinner, but activities were few on that day of the week.  The return of the workweek was a much different setting, with both Mother and Dad working hard to accomplish their tasks for us as a family.

In the Bible, God calls us to regular, weekly worship so that together, we can share in thankfulness to Him through our songs, prayers, studying His word, and acts of kindness to one another.  Fortunately, my parents, and I hope many of yours, instilled that regular weekly worship to God into your routine for the week.

Back in the early days of this great country, our early relatives also set aside that day of rest. Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family spent all day Saturday getting ready for Sunday.  In her book, Little House in the Big Woods (1871, early Wisconsin), the family bathed, pressed their Sunday-best clothes, and prepared all of their meals for the next day.  On Sunday morning, they fixed their hair, donned their fresh, clean clothes and had church in their own home.  They then were quiet the rest of the day! They kept the Sabbath day holy!

Things have changed so much these days!  It happened slowly, perhaps.  American Christians seem to have all sorts of activity on Sunday. Some people work, either by choice or necessity. Some go out to eat and some worship on a different day of the week. And the list can go on and on.

To me, Sundays are a gift and a blessing.  Sunday is my favorite day of the week because I am blessed to meet with my pastor and other believers.  I’m blessed to share my musical talent most weeks in some fashion.  Now I’m even blessed by friends who gather in my Sunday school class as we study the word together.  What a wonderful time we have, sharing and discussing!

Where do people expect you to be on Sunday morning?  You have to answer that one yourself.  But for me, I expect myself to be in church, and that is where I choose to be.