On several occasions, I have left church with my children on a Sunday, saying, “Let’s go get Chick-fil-A!” only to almost in the same breath shout, “Dang it!” (Fellow fans know that they close on Sundays, which is lovely for their employees but inconvenient for our cravings for waffle fries.)
“Keep holy the Sabbath” is a command that some have misinterpreted. When Jesus and his disciples ate of the grain of the field on a Sabbath, they were going against the rules. But as Jesus came to fulfill the Law, when it comes to our observances, he is all about the state of our hearts. God values our relationship with him and our compassion for others far more than our observances. If we are keeping rules only to keep the rules, and not out of an abiding love for God and others, we, like the Pharisees, have missed the point.