Take 5, Everyone. Better yet, Take a Day.

Third commandment: Thou shalt keep holy the Lord’s Day. Show of comments, who has trouble with this one?

As a professional procrastinator and college student, I find it difficult to abide by this rule. First chance I get to run out of classrooms and avoid writing papers, I jump on it (sometimes). What this means is that I usually find myself cramming and finishing my homework the day before the first class of the next week: Sunday.

In a society like we live in today, it’s hard to think of resting on any day. Even when on vacation the idea seems so unreal (at least to me). We always have to be doing something: reading an article, bathing the dog, cleaning the kitchen, folding laundry, driving the kids to dance/soccer/football/etc. When we get a chance to rest, we pass out, usually on the couch in front of the television. We’re a society of multitaskers with no concept of what rest is anymore. How are we supposed to rest when there’s so much to do, when society asks so much of us?

I think most of us kinda let this commandment slip to the slide, and we forget about it. When studying it, we can find an exception for the rule. We’re supposed to refrain from all unnecessary work. But what counts as unnecessary work? Laundry, paper that’s due in 3 days, car wash…?

Some of this can be taken care of early or can be held off until a later time. At some point procrastination does not harm a person just by raising stress levels later, it can also cause a person to displease God. Sunday is set aside for God. So, if you find you won’t have socks Monday because you haven’t done the laundry, next time do the laundry Saturday. It’s not going to make it any more fun to save it until Sunday, but at least your stress levels will be done.

There is still some work that has to be done on Sunday. Jesus worked on Sunday. He healed people, and the Pharisees jumped all over Him about it because He wasn’t supposed to be doing anything on the Sabbath day. However, there are some things that are necessary. If you find someone who’s in need, help them. This type of work is necessary as commanded by the Law of God: love your neighbor as yourself, which means feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, visit the imprisoned, all that good stuff.