"A Holy Resting All That Day"

There are a lot of different opinions on how Sunday should be treated by Christians. I don't want to get into a discussion of what Christians should or shouldn't do on Sunday, but I do think that we need to be aware of what Sunday means and what our attitude is toward it. So as I've been thinking through this, I've been asking myself some questions:

First of all, is Sunday the Sabbath? Is it the Lord's Day? Is it different than other days of the week?

Second, if it is a different day, do I act any different on that day? How does what I do look any different from what the world does?

Third, if I do act differently on that day, is it enough to act differently for one or two hours as I attend church in the morning, then go back to my regular life for the rest of the day? Or is the whole day the Sabbath?

Fourth, what does that mean, anyway: "the Sabbath"? Does it mean that I don't do any work? And what is "work" on Sunday, anyway? Isn't it resting from work when I get to do what I want?

I've been exploring this since we studied the Fourth Commandment in our school. In the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Questions 57-62 thoroughly explore the Fourth Commandment. There are two parts of the catechism that really have really gotten me thinking. First is the commandment itself expressed in catechism question number 57, and then one of the follow up questions:

Question 57: Which is the fourth commandment?

Answer: The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: 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.

Question 60: How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?

Answer: The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole day in the public and private exercises of God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

So that is where my thoughts are - and it brings me to the center of all the questions: how is God calling me to spend my Sundays? A holy resting....