12 Tips for Having a Great Sunday

The small town in which I grew up shut down on Sundays, and I think we were better off for it.  One of our two grocery stores didn’t open at all, and the other was open only from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m.  The downtown streets were empty.  All of life slowed way down.  Sundays were for worship, eating, fishing, and naps.  Sounds awesome, doesn’t it?!

When I moved here, I was sad to see all these people rushing here and there on Sundays as if it were any other day.  There was no holy space—at least not the kind that was markedly noticeable by the whole community—not even good peer pressure that made people SLOW. DOWN. and REST.  When everyone else is racing around, it’s easy to get caught up and race around that silly gerbil wheel yourself.  That little wheel is going nowhere, but that little life is getting worn slap out.

I’m not a full-blown "legalist," by the way.  I have been known occasionally to go to a restaurant on Sundays or to the grocery store if the “ox is in the ditch” as the Biblical metaphor goes.  But I really think a small dose of legalism about it would do me some good.  (And yes, I’m aware that the real Hebrew Shabbat is from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.)

As a refresher for us, here’s what God told Moses and the Hebrew people:  “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ You have six days each week for your ordinary work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you” (Exodus 20:8-10 NLT).

Yeah, this is on that BIG TEN LIST – right there alongside those others we hold more dearly—honor your father and mother, don’t lie, steal, murder, commit adultery.  Somehow we hold exception to just this one—at best it’s inconvenient and weird, and at most it’s costly.

My pastor and dear friend always likes to remind me of what Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27 NLT).

But my question is this, “What if we DO let Sabbath meet our needs?  What if we let God meet our needs the way God designed our needs to be met?”  The One who is the Author of us is the Author of rest.  When we wrestle on without ever resting, I dare say we wrestle ourselves right to an empty defeat that God never intended for us.

So from one busy gerbil to another, here’s how to have a great Sunday:

1. Plan ahead on Saturday (or Friday if your Sabbath is on Saturday). Not my original idea—it’s God’s.   “This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the Lord. So bake or boil as much as you want today, and set aside what is left for tomorrow” (Exodus 16:23).
2. Plan your grocery time for anytime other than Sunday.
3. When you meal plan, consider a crockpot meal or leftovers for Sundays. If you really want to get into it, use paper plates so you don’t have to wash so many dishes!!
4. Lay out clothes for Sunday (iron, mend) on Saturdays. Get the diaper bag (or other church paraphernalia) by the back door on Saturday nights.  If you’re ready the night before, you’re less likely to get flustered and yell at the kids before church or to shirk going altogether!
5. Go ahead and think about Monday on Saturday. Do whatever’s got to be done for Monday then—homework, meal plan, lesson plans.
6. Set your alarm (ouch, I know) so that when Sunday arrives, you get up in time to pray before getting ready for worship. It always makes for a more enriching worship time.
7. Go to worship! Obviously.
8. If the family needs a nap that afternoon, make everyone take one! (or at least have a quiet time in their rooms)
9. If you don’t want to nap, do something Re-Creation-al. True recreation isn’t something that just numbs you (e.g. lame tv shows) but something that really re-creates the you that God made you to be (drawing, painting, writing, fishing, walking, reading, etc.).
10. OR do something as a family that connects you with one another in a fun way (play games, play outside). Sundays should be a time toward which every one of every age looks forward.  To be a holy day means it’s a set-apart day—a good kind of different from the other six days.
11. When you’re tempted to do laundry (or ______ fill in the blank with daily, ordinary work), write down all the tasks you’re dying to do, and ask yourself if it’s really worth it or can it wait until tomorrow night (or lunch break if you get one of those or early morning or maybe even next Saturday).
12. Stay out of stores and away from internet shopping on Sundays—they just make us want stuff that we probably don’t need, spend money we probably don’t have, and most of all rob us of holy time and meaningful experiences with the people we love.

A new habit takes practice.  Just try it.  Practice a new holy habit this week!

If you create a new Sunday habit, share it in the comments section.