Monday is a powerful force. Powerful enough to stir up our emotions spilling over into dread or worry or heaviness. Despite the fact it’s a fresh start, a new thing, and a day of opportunity, “Monday” comes with fine print that can hijack the most optimistic spirit. In an effort to outsmart Monday, people carefully plan their schedule, wear their favorite outfit, double their espresso, arrange lunch with positive people, declare a day to sleep in, or even strategically request a day off. I’ve tried a few things in answer to Monday, but I’ve found one essential. My Monday needs a Sunday.
No matter what we do on the weekend, a host of distractions await us on Monday. Maybe your distractions ambush you in the shower, at the Keurig, on your Twitter feed, in the kitchen, in the email, or in the car. Somewhere, sometime, Monday demands we decide who we are and what we live for. Monday needs Sunday.
For our family, Sunday is a day to worship. It can be sweet to worship alone, but I can do that any day, or I can do it in addition to a gathered time of worship. Meeting together with others who share our faith and celebrate our blessings has a way of course-correcting my sometimes wayward outlook. When we come together with people who follow God and want a relationship with Jesus, we have the chance to talk about how God’s truth answers the problems of life and things like … Monday. We remember that God has given us a plan for peace everyday, even Monday. We listen to music and pray together, quieting my spirit in a way that reminds me of who I am and why I care about doing life well on Monday.
A lot of people worship on other days of the week. There’s a pattern in the Bible that set Sunday as a day of gathering together. As the week begins, we remember the peace we’re meant to know. We remember the value of a work and life balance, before the work week begins. I think the most important thing is that we meet to give God glory for who He is and to remember who we are. It really helps me to get together with my church on Sunday, because, after all, it gets me ready for Monday!
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)
A lot of people worship without anyone else. There’s a pattern in the Bible of meeting with other followers of God to praise Him, pray together, and learn what He communicates in His word. Coming together does what meeting online or reading a devotion can’t do. As we collect our worship, the force of our joint hearts and minds and service becomes a powerful force, and we can take that deposit of strength into the new week. When we’re discouraged, unsure, tempted, or overwhelmed, we can draw from the combined deposit we received with fellow lovers of God.
We can easily become all about our job, all about getting our way, all about controlling our circumstances, or all about staying on top. Monday is a fresh start, a new thing, and a day of opportunity. If we enter into it without a course-corrected perspective, it can become a start down a wrong path, a new investment in wasted things, and an opportunity to lose what matters most to us. Without a Sunday to reset our perspective, we run the risk of letting Monday take us down a path we don’t intend.
Did you find yourself overwhelmed today? How did you use your Sunday? Did it get you ready for this day, this fresh start, this new thing, this opportunity … this Monday? If you missed the chance to use Sunday in preparation for Monday, no worries. There’s another one coming in just six days. God’s mercies are new every morning … and every Monday.
