When I was a child, Blue Laws were enforced in my town. Stores were closed on Sundays. I didn’t really think much of it as we were at church anyway. These laws were later repealed, and shops could be open on Sundays, if they chose to be.

Later in life, my husband and I moved to a new state. We were surprised when we encountered Blue Laws preventing the sale of alcohol before noon. On our way home from church, we stopped at a grocery store and had to wait 15 minutes before we were allowed to purchase beer for a gathering that evening.

These days, Blue Laws are largely gone. You can do most anything on Sunday that you can do on Tuesday or Friday. In fact, my tennis team has matches scheduled every Sunday afternoon. Occasionally, a store will be closed, but it doesn’t have anything to do with Blue Laws, just people wanting a day off. Post offices may be closed on Sundays, but their bulk mail processing and distribution centers are open.

I don’t think Blue Laws should be reinstated. Mostly because I don’t think morality can or should be legislated. If I don’t think stores should be open on Sunday, I shouldn’t shop at them on Sunday. Without any business to be made, they will close.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy:” (Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭8‬, ‭CSB‬‬)

But what does God actually mean by “remembering” the Sabbath and “keeping it holy”? If Sunday is the same as any other day, it’s really easy to forget about worshiping God. Since Covid, I’ve been “attending” church by watching it live on TV. There have actually been a few times when I simply forgot. It’s easy when there are so many other options for things to do, and Sunday looks like any other day.

As for how to keep it “holy” Jesus showed us that holiness included doing “work” if that work is about loving other people. He healed people, fed His disciples, traveled places, and taught — all on the Sabbath. He worked on the Sabbath, but His work was holy.

So what does that mean for how I behave? God would like me to have a day each week that is different from the others. A day where I don’t go about my routine as usual. I set the whole day aside for worshiping God, doing His work, and for loving other people. It’s a day to reset my priorities. To ground myself in God’s word. To look at my map and make sure I’m still going the right direction.

I don’t need any laws for that, but I do need self-discipline and determination in a world that doesn’t care about the specialness of the Sabbath.

Dear God, thank you for building in a day for your children to rest with you, to reevaluate our goals and direction, and to worship you. Forgive me for the times when I have forgotten the Sabbath, and I have not kept it holy. Teach me how to protect my Sundays from a busy, needy world.