​“The first day of the week–the Lord’s day–was not to be a day of particular sobriety or austerity. On the contrary, this was a day of joy and celebration, connected first of all with the resurrection of Jesus, but also with the beginning of the new creation on the same day of the week when creation began, and with the eschatological expectation of the ‘eighth day’.”
page 39

I didn’t understand what Sunday was all about when I was a kid. If you asked me when I was ten years-old what was different about Sundays, here is how I would have responded:

• Sunday is the one day a week that my dad doesn’t go to work. 
• On Sundays, we go to church. 
• My friend Holly isn’t allowed to watch tv or play outside on Sundays (I am really glad not to be Holly).
• We don’t go to stores on Sundays because that makes other people work. 

As I got older, I struggled with Sundays. I wondered, if Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest, why did the women in my husband’s family do a whole lot of work preparing a big meal and cleaning up while the men watched football?
I think we all need to struggle a bit with what Sunday really means to us, and to God. This week, we are invited to consider Sunday’s call to praise God for all the incredible things God does in our lives. Pray for the discipline to praise God consistently on Sundays.
Question to Ponder:  What are some ways, other than worship, that we can praise God on Sundays?

This week’s devotions are adapted from the book, A Brief History of Sunday: From the New Testament to the New Creation by Justo L. Gonzalez. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids. 2017.