Open on Sundays

“And haven’t you read in the Law of Moses that the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath……. For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” Matthew 12:5, 8 NLT

Sundays have long been just another workday for many industries in commercial, public and the private sectors. There was a ‘once upon a time’ when working on Sundays would have been considered unheard of. No businesses would dare to open and manufacturers instituted a day of rest for the laborers cementing a day for faith and family. However the cement began to crack as several businesses tested the waters of laws at that time prohibiting work on Sundays. The rest is history, as they say, to where we are today. We are living in a time where working on Sundays is unavoidable and even necessary for certain individuals, especially if you have been called by the Lord to be in the field of service you are in.

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees as they made an issue over the disciples picking the heads of grain in the fields to satisfy their hunger, a necessity. The Pharisees considered the picking of grains the same as harvesting a crop or working on the Sabbath. They failed to realize that performing a task on the Sabbath out of necessity is not equal to working to achieve a profit. Jesus used the example of David and his men eating the sacred bread reserved for the priests as a necessary need of hunger. Jesus continued His rebuke by informing them the priests in the Temple actually are working on the Sabbath doing the Lord’s work. Jesus concludes that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus’ point in noting the work of priests in the temple is they were doing the Lord’s work in furthering Temple worship which pointed to Jesus. Now Jesus’ disciples are doing His work on the Sabbath as well.

What work has the Lord of the Sabbath called you to do? What desires, skills, and natural abilities has He blessed you with? Are you using them for Him? Does it require you to work on Sundays? If it does, then it is just as much a necessity for you as it was for the Temple priests and Jesus’ disciples picking grain to work on Sundays, doing His will, where He called you.

The Lord had shown me early in my career that He needs Christians in all vocations to serve Him. For me it was in the retail industry at the time retailers where testing the waters of the ‘Blue Laws’ which prohibited Sunday sales. Needless to say, the retailers won. I was called into this service by the Lord working as many Sundays as I had off during my tenure due to the fact that we were open on Sundays.