Sunday: The Christian’s Valentine’s Day?
After stopping–on my way home from work–last Thursday to buy my wife a Valentine’s Day card, a thought started formulating in mind. The thought became more concrete as I stood with other husbands (in an incredibly long line), who had also waited until the last minute to buy something for their wives. And finally, as I drove home, I looked in my rear-view-mirror to see a bouquet of flowers, and a barely-visible set of eyes, behind the steering wheel of a large truck. That’s when the thought completely solidified – Sunday is like the Christian’s Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s Day is a day where many husbands do, out of compulsion, what they ought to be doing all year long. Having a special day to celebrate your love for someone doesn’t mean it should be the only day on which you celebrate that love. In fact, it almost makes special days, like Valentine’s Day, meaningless when a husband reluctantly complies with the cultural expectations.
Similarly, Sunday is a special day to celebrate Christ’s love for us and our love for Him, but it shouldn’t be the only day Christians celebrate that relationship. It is a special day of worship, but it shouldn’t be the only day on which Christians worship. Sunday is the special day on which we take the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7), but the death of Christ ought to be at the forefront of our minds all week long.
Unfortunately, Sunday has become a day–like Valentine’s Day–on which many Christians do, out of compulsion, what they ought to be doing all week long.
Sunday and Valentine’s Day should not be days on which we are compelled to go through thoughtless rituals to communicate a hollow and meaningless, “I love you.” What they ought to be is days of reminder; reminding us of the love and relationship that ought to be vibrant all week, and all year, long. After all, Jesus commanded us to take the Supper, on the first day of the week, “in remembrance” of Him (1 Corinthians 11:24).
In marriage, as in Christianity, it is easy to fall into the trap of simply going through the motions. If we’re not careful, we can become like the Ephesians, to whom the Lord said, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first” (Revelation 2:4). That’s why we need special days of “remembrance” to remind us to renew our love.
Don’t let Sunday be a day of reluctant compulsion; God is not pleased with that kind of worship (2 Corinthians 9:7). Let Sunday be a day of reminder of how much God loves you. Then, motivated by that love, communicate to Him how much you love Him through the worship He commanded.
I love you and God loves you,
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