I’ll be honest, I skimmed them.  You know, the “Do not murder” and the “Do not steal” verses.  Those seemingly obvious instructions?  I skimmed them and moved on. But God called me back.

In the midst of all of the “Do nots”, there it was…Remember.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy… – Exodus 20:8 HCSB

Why is this the one that He had to say remember?  It’s because, all too often, we cram as much as we can into each day.  Our 9:00-5:00 is committed to work and the evenings and weekends, well, they belong to us.

We do not take the time to remember the Sabbath.  We don’t know how to keep it holy when there are so many things that need to be done. Most of all, we just forget.  And He knew that we would.  We are not in danger of forgetting that we aren’t supposed to kill someone.  We are not likely to forget that we shouldn’t covet our neighbor’s spouse.  We know those things.  Yet, in the busyness of life, we are very likely to forget to take the time to honor the Lord. Despite our best intentions, we are likely to go through an entire weekend and never remember the Sabbath.

I’m a working mom, a pastor’s wife and I have a lot of responsibilities to other people.  But this does not excuse me from stopping to remember what the Lord has done.

Steps to Remembering the Sabbath

• Pray that God would provide peace and focus.
• Prepare church outfits the night before.
• Set out breakfast dishes and plan something easy (cereal, fruit/english muffin, etc)
• Have Bibles, diaper bag, etc. ready and by the front door.
• Put something in the crock pot for dinner.
• Plan a family activity for Sunday afternoon (board game, popcorn/movie, etc.)
• Read a Scripture passage and talk about its application for life today.

Realize that things come up and life is not always, or ever, cut and dried.  However, the goal here is to have no major household projects, frantic trips to the grocery store or other activities that cause stress or aggravation. Take time this week to remember the Sabbath and enjoy your family.  

Spend Sunday basking in His blessings and begin the week refreshed in Him.