Week 1, Day 4 - Ten Days a Week

 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God." Exodus 20: 8,9

REFLECT

From time to time someone questions why we have seven days in a week - and they think an alternative might be better. They tried a ten-day week in France. It was 1792, and the National Convention of the French Revolution adopted a ten-day week, with a ten-hour day, with 1,000 minutes each day. Ignoring Judeo-Christian tradition, they proposed that this more rational way of keeping time would make people happier and more productive. It didn't work. Neither did Stalin's six-day week, which conveniently discarded the seventh, religiously oriented day. In Russia, the significance of Shabbat was transferred to the first day of the week. Sunday was their holy day called "Voskresenye" "Resurrection." Stalin's six-day week also failed.

It seems as though the seven-day week is not just an arbitrary number, but a pattern written into the creation itself. God had a plan and purpose for the "Shabbat" he calls us to on the seventh day. People say: "the weekend is just around the corner." And "thank God it's Friday", not even realizing the significance of what they are saying. Thank God, indeed. It is good to work, good to be productive, and it is good to stop and do something else.

When the Israelites escaped the bondage of Egypt into the freedom and challenge of the wilderness, God gave them, through Moses, ten life-giving words. We know them as the Ten Commandments. Whole civilizations have been built on the bedrock of "you shall not steal," "you shall not murder," and other "words." Interestingly right toward the top of the list is the command to "remember" or "observe" the day in the week that God set apart and made holy. A "Shabbat" to stop what we normally do to do something different, something holy. And somehow that day makes the rest of the days more holy, too.

So what does your week look like? Does it have productivity and not mere activity? Does in include time with the important people in your life and also time alone when you can think, reflect, and pray? Does it have a time when you worship? This is why God said "Remember" the "Shabbat". Remembering and worshiping reconnects us with our Creator and reminds us of our unique purpose.

MAKE IT REAL

Sit down sometime today and list the seven days of the week. Write one thing on each day that could be and should be different in your life patterns. Be intentional and ask how to best use the time God gives us. And remember the gift of "Shabbat."

Day 5