⁵ One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.

Another contentious issue of Paul’s day was how Christians live on certain days of the week. Those with Jewish backgrounds understood the Sabbath rules of keeping the Lord’s Day holy, treating it as different from the rest. One might easily conclude that this is one of the clearest commandments laid out in the Bible. After all, it is one of the Ten Commandments! Slam dunk, right? Not so fast. Many Christians disagree.

The apostle builds his reasoning about food offered to idols with two instructions. However you work out this issue in your own life, he writes, first of all be convinced in your own mind. If you are uneasy about it, then work it through and come to a convincing conclusion. There is nothing worse than indulging or not indulging in an activity with an unsettled conscience about it. If in doubt, then don’t.

Secondly, once your mind is settled, then turn your freedom or your restraint into an act of worship to the Lord. Dedicate your actions or decision to God. That means you should make it your motivation in this issue to offer up your body as “a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Rom 12:1). That by itself would keep us busy enough with our own lives that we would not have the time or energy to judge others. We should not be conformed to the fleshly desire to battle our Christian brothers and sisters about the issue. Yes, there is a place for discussing the merits of one’s perspective, but it should not be a cause for the strife Paul wrote about in Romans 13:13.

But what about keeping the Lord’s Day holy? The OT commandment refers to Saturday, not Sunday. In fact, only nine of the Ten Commandments are found reinforced in the NT; the Sabbath Day command is excluded. Jesus often contravened the application of that law by the Pharisees (see Luke 5:36 for example). The NT alludes to the “first day of the week” (Acts 20:7, 1 Cor 16:2) and “the Lord’s day” (Rev 1:10); historically Christians have commemorated Sunday as the Lord’s Day in honor of the day our Lord was raised. However, nowhere does the NT command us “to keep the Lord’s Day.” One could make the case that Christians should live as though every day is “the Lord’s Day.”

Lord, help me live every day as Your Day, in honor of You.