Welcome to Tuesday, our favorite day! You've arrived at our blog and we hope you will stay! There's music galore, some trivia too! And you might find out a few things about YOU! What is this place, where are we going? We're traveling down a place of your knowing! Keep reading the words and hear all the tunes, we promise it's simple, no need to read runes. Don't dig today's song? That's fine we've got more. The archives, please search them, we hope they won't bore. So welcome to Tuesday and The Musical Notes! It's a wonderful flight from those guys who want votes! Kick back, relax we know it sounds cheesy. But the Commodores think, you know, that it's easy...
The Commodores were formed in 1968 from a group of mostly freshmen attending the Tuskegee Institue (now Tuskegee University) in Tuskegee, Alabama. The band has sold over 70 million albums worldwide and received 9 Grammy nominations. They continue to tour even though their last studio album was 1993's No Tricks.
Written as well as sung by founding member of the Commodores, Lionel Ritchie, "Easy" would become the ninth single released by the band over the course of 5 albums. Of those, 5 would be top 40 hits on Billboard's Hot 100, and "Easy" would go all the way to #4, the third top 10 ten hit by the band. (1976's "Sweet Love", #5, and "Just to Be Close to You", #7) "Easy" would cement the Commodores in the late '70s and early '80s as a top 40 radio standard and pave the way for Lionel Ritchie's solo career in the '80s.
Founding member William King continues to tour and record with the Commodores, the only band member to do so for the band's history. Surprisingly, the band's only Grammy win came for 1986's "Night Shift" after the departure of Ritchie in 1982. I wonder if he told them..."I'm leavin' you tomorrow..."?
The phrase, "Easy, like Sunday morning" from today's feature song, came as a result of Lionel Ritchie's reflections of life in and around Tuskegee in the '60s and '70s. It seems, like many other towns, especially in Southern states, that the town pretty much closed down after about 11:30 on Saturday evenings. With the repeal of Blue Laws in most states, this practice of having an easy Sunday morning has gone by the wayside.
In contrast, 2020 sees the practice of a 7 day work week, vacations, and retiring before the age of 70, all of which are western culture creations. These modern practices are also contrary to a certain lesson learned at the base of a mountain long ago.
Let's get this out of the way... Did God need to rest after creation? Certainly not! Did man need an example of what our 7-day existence should be? Absolutely!!
Another couple of things to consider with this passage to get the full context. The Israelites had been slaves of the Egyptians for 450 years. They were worked 7 days a week until they died. There was no backyard barbeque on Saturday or getting to take a nap in a recliner. In fact, they were punished for not reaching the quota set by their Egyptian taskmasters. Hearing this commandment must have been quite the reason to celebrate for these tired former slaves.
Secondly, while God says that the seventh day is to be the Sabbath, He never stipulates the particular day of the week or time. To the Hebrews, the seventh day was taken to mean Friday at sundown through Saturday (the seventh day) until sundown.
By the time Jesus came on to the scene, the priests had layered the 10 commandments with 613 man-made interpretations to God's commandments, complicating things so much that no one person could be expected to be obedient to each one all the time. This became almost as much of a burden to the Children of Israel as their taskmasters were back in Egypt. There was no easy like Friday night to Saturday night...
Jesus comes along and challenges the rabbinical laws as the shackles that they were. If you look closely at the Sermon on the Mount (The Gospel of Jesus according to the disciple Matthew, chapters 5-7 NASB/AMP/KJV), you can see Jesus' exposition of the 10 Commandments. Later in Matthew and the other Gospels, He specifically challenges the rabbinical laws and traditions regarding the Sabbath, freeing everyone from the observance that had become very man initiated and restrictive. (Matthew 12 NASB/AMP/KJV, The Gospel of Jesus according to Mark chapter 2, verses 23-28 NASB/AMP/KJV, The Gospel of Jesus according to Dr. Luke, chapter 6, verses 1-11 NASB/AMP/KJV, The Gospel of Jesus according to the disciple John, chapter 5, verses 1-17 NASB/AMP/KJV)
From these passages (notice that every Gospel covers this subject) you can quickly see that Jesus, who was God in our form, removed the barriers to worship that man had placed on the day of rest. He does so with examples that ranged from revered King David to the Israelites lives at the time. He basically tells them what the commandment says. Work 6 days, spend the 7th resting and reflecting on who God is and what He has done in your life.
So how does that apply to us? What does Sabbath rest mean in 2020? If you didn't know, my vocation is a Worship Leader/Family Ministry Minister to our local church. This means for me and the rest of our staff, Sunday IS a workday. In my previous vocation as a retail store manager, we were required to work 1 Sunday a month or we could be reprimanded, lose our position, or lose the job. Having been raised in the tradition of Blue Laws and "Sunday being a sacred day" this was difficult until I came to realize, that I did AND do get a day away from my vocation. This day becomes my Sabbath. It just so happens to currently fall in line with the ancient Hebrew practice of Friday at sundown, till Saturday at sundown. Unless you are working 7 days a week, and many are due to the plague, there is at least 1 day a week you can call your Sabbath. So, how does that day become...well, easy?
How do I maximize my sabbath? I personally make lists of the priorities for my week and then attempt to get that list completed. I roll over things not accomplished and try to alleviate them from my mind. This allows me the opportunity to do projects that I enjoy and focus on Whose I am and what good works He has already planned for me to do. Organizing a record/cd/single collection would seem tedious and too much like work to some, but I find it relaxing and just tiring enough to help me rest when I do sit down. While I don't dig yard work (I know, very punny!) there are others in my family who find that a way of relaxing. There are other times when one of the Hallmark Channels beckons...don't judge...
The point to our Sabbath? Find ways that help you reflect on who God is in your life at that moment AND get some rest in ways that allow you to be the best version of yourself over the course of your other 6 days.
Everybody rests in their own way. Some garden, some listen to records, others binge-watch a favorite television show. The main point that Jesus makes is don't get so caught up on the legality of what you do that you take away from the worship you do.
It's just that easy...like Sunday mornin'...
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving You,
randy
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