A Day to Rejoice

This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 ESV

In the late 1950’s, one of the happiest days of the year was the last day of school. In our neighborhood, most of us kids would gleefully run home from school, toss our school supplies aside, slip off our shoes and go out into the back yard to play! Very few of us got signed up for camp, or Summer sports, and no one that I knew just wanted to plunk down in front of the television. After all, we were kids. We knew how to play!. Today in our mad rush to keep children busy, we have lost something precious. We have forgotten how to enjoy a Sabbath. Now English is my mother tongue, but I sometimes far prefer my adopted language of Portuguese, especially when talking about the days of the week. For example in English, Monday, is the beginning of the week, with Wednesday being, “hump day” and the acronym TGIF, means we are delighted that Friday means it is almost over. Which is why we call Saturday and Sunday the “weekend.” But Portuguese calls Sunday Domingo “God’s day,” and Monday is Segunda-Feira (second day). The week-days take on the numbers 3-6 ending with Saturday, which is “Sabado”, the Sabbath. Though everyday life in the Western world has almost forgotten what having a Sabbath means, at least in the Portuguese language, God’s design is remembered.

In the Old Testament, keeping the Sabbath, was a strict law, and the breaking of it resulted in severe penalties, up to and including stoning. Though we are not under those rules today, it does not mean that God does not intend for us to have a Sabbath of rest and worship. We desperately need our New Covenant Sabbath, our Lord’s Day. Today’s verse, says “This is the day which the Lord has made.” Our Sabbath is the “Lord’s Day” because it was the day that He rose. By His rising from the dead, Jesus brought us more than the beginning of a new week, He brought us the start of a new world! Today, we can rejoice in having a day to worship God, fellowship with other believers, and then kick off our shoes, put our feet in the grass and rejoice in the day God given to us to rejoice!

Peter Caligiuri has been writing poetry since he was a teenager. Some of his short poems and devotionals have appeared in various periodicals such Secret Place, Breakthrough Intercessor and The Upper Room. Peter holds a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education/English from Western Connecticut State College as well as having attended Elim Bible College. https://christiandevotions.us/viewauthor/430

Photo by Knowing-Jesus