Remember the Sabbath?

Cross Country is officially over. My emotions are mixed. I love coaching. I love this team. I enjoy being with them. Someone asked me recently if I enjoyed teaching or coaching more and it didn't take me long to reply "coaching." Not that I don't enjoy teaching, but there's just something special about leading a team in a sport. So I will miss it. It was a great season and I had a blast, but on the other hand, the time will be nice. Not coaching frees up a lot of time that I can give back to my family which I am really looking forward to. So while I'll miss it and I'm sad to see the season end, it is a bit of a relief and it's nice to have another season completed. Now it's on to basketball season....not with the high school, but with my own sons. Looking forward to helping coach there and working with the boys more. We had our state Cross Country meet last weekend. My girl runner won the whole thing for the 2nd year in a row. She's amazing. Had another girl do really well individually. My boys team placed 7th out of 24 teams which isn't too bad. They gave it their all so I can't complain too much. Most of them will be on the team next year so I'm already looking forward to that.

So there's a box in my classroom. It's small. Wooden. It has a slot on top and a lock on the side. It has a sign on the front that says "Questions/Thoughts/Comments for Bible Discussion." I encourage my students to insert anything in the box....a question, a concern, a confusion, a verse, an encouragement.....anything that might spark some discussion in our class. I love it. We study the Bible and certain books in it, but I love taking a day off every once in a while to have discussion. I've had some great ones over the years. The other day, I opened the box because I could tell something new had been put in there. It simply said, "Why are we supposed to follow all the 10 Commandments today except one? Why don't we have to remember the Sabbath like they did in Old Testament times?" Good question. I liked it and we talked about it. I did explain to them that some things have changed since that commandment was given....such as which day "Sabbath" is referring to and how Jesus came along later and did work on the Sabbath, healing people and doing good work. I explained how that commandment might not mean the same to us as it did back then. But of course there's a "but"....

BUT......the students brought up some good points in our discussion. While we aren't required anymore to not work on the Sabbath, do we really give that day or any days to God? I think most would agree that our "Sabbath" is now Sunday. It's our worship day. It's when we are commanded to worship and praise our Father. And a lot of people do and that's great, but do we really give that day to God? Consider these questions:

Do you ever dread getting up early on Sundays to go to church?
Do you make excuses for being late to church or not going on Sunday evening or not going to Bible class?
Do you think about where you are going to lunch during church?
Do you try to hurry out the door to be first at the restaurant for lunch on Sundays?
Do you get annoyed when your Sunday afternoon is interrupted by something extra at church?
Do you get annoyed when the sermon runs long and church doesn't end right on the hour or before?
Do you find excuses to finish watching the 3:00PM football game instead of going to church?
Do you use your phone to check football scores during church?

There are many more questions I could ask but I'll stop there. And, ok, the last one is a personal and very recent mistake. Got caught doing that Sunday night and got a very deserved talking to. Please understand....I am guilty of many of the others as well. I am talking as much to myself as anyone else. Many of these things aren't "wrong" but they just show how dedicated (or undedicated) we are to God. We often put worldly things, thoughts, events, activities, etc ahead of God. We make excuses....really good excuses why but it all comes down to our priorities. Is it too much to ask to give just one day of our week totally to God? Or even most of the day? Or at least more of it than we do now? We get six other days a week to do our worldly things....job, school, family, leisure, etc. Those are all important but doesn't God trump all? Shouldn't he get one day where we focus more on Him than anything else? Maybe the OT "Remember the Sabbath" was a step in the right direction. Part of me wishes we weren't allowed to do anything on Sunday. Maybe that would make it easier to focus on Him.

This is something I need to work on and I thought I'd share it here as well. I want to give every day to Him and focus on Him for a set time each day, but I also think He deserves my Sundays. I know there are things I will have to do on Sundays. There will be work to do. There will be meals to eat. There will even be football games that I'll watch. But I need to make sure those things are on the back burner and God is way out in front. My thought process and habits need some tweaking. What about yours?

I love God, Griffin, my Girl, and my Guys.

Keep runnin'. The PRIZE awaits. (Php. 3:14)

-Albert