James Tissot 1836–1902
The Plague of Locusts (Exodus 10:13)
The Most Important Days
On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat—that is all you may do. —Exodus 12:16
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. —Matthew 28:1
January is the time of year when I go on "the hunt"—not for after-holiday deals on decorations but for the perfect calendar. I start looking in December, but I don’t get serious about my search until January. My requirements are simple: I want a week-at-a-glance, book-type calendar that will lie open on the counter near the telephone. It must also begin each week with Sunday, not Monday. It’s this last criterion that is complicating my search. More and more calendars start the week with Monday, the day God considers second.
This trend, like others in our increasingly secular culture, gives the least prominence to what God considers most important. For reasons I don’t claim to understand, God chose to give special significance to two days of the week—the last and the first—the day He rested after creating the world, and the day He arose after redeeming the world.
Although the calendar I use is not essential to my faith, it does help me remember that my life begins and ends not with the work I do for myself, but with the work God does for me through worship and rest.
Click here to read the published version in Our Daily Bread.
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