On the first day of the week, we gathered together to break bread.

Acts 20:7

Much of the religious world has just finished with Easter, an annual day in which they commemorate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I don't want you to misunderstand the things that are about to follow, for in Romans chapter 14 in verses 5-6 we are told that it is acceptable for a man to consider one day as more special than another as long as he is doing so to the Lord. This is between you and God, and no one has the right to tell you whether or not you can observe the annual anniversary of Christ's death as more special in your mind than the other days of the year.

So if I am not criticizing the observance of Easter by anyone (and I am not) then what is the point? The point is that the command to commemorate Jesus' death, burial and resurrection has always been for a weekly observance and not just one special day of the year. In I Corinthians 16:2, we are commanded to give on the first day of every week. This offering was made at the weekly gathering of the church, but the focal point of this gathering was not for the contribution. Nor was the main thing to hear somebody preach. In the passage above from the book of Acts we see that the Apostle Paul was speaking that day. Paul was one of the most prominent men in the church at that time, but the church still did not gather to hear him - they gathered together to break bread. And as I Corinthians chapter 11 points out, this breaking of bread was not referring to a meal, but to the Lord's Supper. This supper was instituted by Jesus Himself when he took the unleavened bread which represented His body, and the fruit of the vine which represented the blood He was about to shed for the forgiveness of our sins.

And as Hebrews 10:19-31 points out, the forsaking of this weekly assembly was tantamount to trampling the body of Christ underfoot, treating his blood as an unholy thing, and insulting God's Spirit of grace (Heb 10:29). So we see that the gathering together to remember the death burial and resurrection of Christ was to be a weekly occurrence that was highlighted by the taking of the Lord's Supper. And while I personally believe there to be nothing wrong with the individual holding the anniversary of our Lord's death and resurrection as special, the specific command is that this be done when the church gathers on the first day of each and every week.

But, do we really have to do this every week?

Maybe an example will help. Over the course of my life, I have mowed lawns for several people on a certain day every week. In exchange for that, I got paid every week. Now suppose that I had unilaterally decided to change that agreement and mow their lawn only on one special day a year. By that time, the lawn was overgrown and a hazard to both man and beast, but I persevered and made that lawn look top notch. Could I then reasonably expect my client to pay me for the whole year's mowing? Do you think that they would have accepted my decision to change our agreement in such a way as to neglect our weekly agreement in the place of my new and improved annual plan? I don't think they would, do you?

A more important question is do we think that God will accept one day of special devotion in the place of His command to gather together on the first day of every week?

And, by the way, it's not that our giving special attention to the annual event is somehow wrong as long as we limit that to our personal lives and do not bind it on the rest of our brothers and sisters. The command is for the first day of the week, and it is our privilege to honor the Lord's will in this area. One of the reasons that we need to be reading the Word of God for ourselves is so that we can make sure that we are doing His will as best as we can. While we may not agree on every specific thing, I believe that we can all agree that it is our duty to do our best to correctly handle His Word. It's something to think about, isn't it?