Shopping on the Sabbath

So the last customer of the day was making his purchase and I didn't see him lay down his 5 but I saw him move while I was getting his bag so I assumed he had slid a card.  He pointed to the 5 on the counter and I made a joke about not having a brain or eyes today.  This man then proceeds to tell me that I shouldn't have to work on Sunday anyway.  And I wish he wouldn't have said that.  It had been such a lovely day thus far.

Annoyed, but reminding myself I'm still at work, I politely as I can tell him that if people wouldn't shop on Sunday, I wouldn't have to work.  He laughs and replies with "Well, there's nothing else to do." And I wish he wouldn't have said that either.

I bit my tongue and handed him his change, but that last statement made me mad.  I am not someone who is prone to anger, in fact, I can't remember the last time I was properly angry.  But oh boy, if you want to rile me up you apparently just need to tell me that there is nothing else on God's green Earth that you could be doing on the Sabbath other than shopping.

So dear sir, here is a small list of things you could be doing instead of shopping on Sunday:

• taking a walk through nature to enjoy the Lord's creation
• visiting the sick or elderly
• spending time with your family (somewhere that doesn't require someone else to work for you to be there)
• watching Prince of Egypt or some other gospel centered movie
• taking a nap
• reading scriptures
• taking time to marvel at how wonderfully the Lord has blessed your life.

See, 7 things that took longer to type out than to come up with.  So shopping isn't the only thing you could be doing on this day the Lord has set aside.  Because in Exodus 20 one of the Ten Commandments given to the children of Israel was, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."  But God didn't stop there!  He continued, explaining, "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." (emphasis added)

The Sabbath is more than just not working.  It should be spent glorifying God and helping those in need.  But the part I wish so many people didn't forget is that part in italics.  Part of the Sabbath day observance as laid out by the Lord requires not making others work.  The kitchen supplies, clothes, books, movies, and body wash will still be at the mall on Monday.  There are so many better things to do on the Lord's day than shop.