Why go to Church on Sunday? Isn’t it just another day?

When God had created the world, He rested in victory on ‘the sabbath’. For faithful Jews it was to remind them of God, and his work of creation. The fourth commandment says, ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’

Jesus, having been crucified and buried, rose again on the first day of the week, the day after the Jewish Sabbath, namely Sunday. Early Christians began to worship together on Sunday to remember the Lord Jesus and His work of re-creation. Exactly seven weeks after the resurrection of Christ, the Holy Spirit descended to dwell in the hearts and lives of Christian people. This happened at Pentecost, so Christians also remember the work of the Holy Spirit and His work of procreation.

It is a day set aside for God and worship. Individuals and nations are blessed in keeping the day as sacred. Personally, I do not shop or do unnecessary work on Sunday. I try not to cause work for others on that day. I have benefited tremendously by seeking to keep ‘the Lord’s Day’ (as the Bible calls it) as a holy day. I start the week with the first day being given to God, and I find He amply rewards that practice.

The film ‘Chariots of Fire’ reminded the world of Eric Liddell. He was the Scottish Olympic athlete who refused to run in the 100 metres on a Sunday. The reason was that Eric was a Christian. Eric believed the Bible’s teaching that God will honour those who honour Him. A few days after his scheduled race, Eric ran, won and set a new world record for the 400 metres in the Paris Olympics of 1924. He said, ‘I believe that Sunday as we have had it in the past, is one of the greatest helps in a young man’s life to keep all that is noblest, truest and best.’