When our family visited Germany we were struck by the European custom of closing the shops, stores and factories at noon (in some cases 2 p.m.) on Saturday and keeping them closed until Monday morning. So there was little else to do on a Sunday afternoon but relax, enjoy the outdoors or take on some quiet pursuit.

This is not to suggest that Europeans keep the Christian Sabbath because they are particularly devout Christians. Evidence suggests otherwise.

European Sundays stand in sharp and painful contrast to the North American custom. Our shopping centers are often at their busiest on Sundays. Many who work the cash registers, the racks, the shelves, the shifts are Christian folk who don't worship when their time to work falls on a Sunday. Many worship and then hurry to the marketplace.

Have we handed over the Christian Sabbath without a whimper? Were the Hebrew Scriptures wrong to ask God's people to reserve a day of rest each week?

An Ohio businessman advertises himself as "the jeweler who stays closed on Sundays." He says that he knows he'll surrender profits to competitors by closing on a day when they don't, but it's worth the risk because of the good will it earns him.

I don't propose a campaign to force store closings or passage of local ordinances. But there are some clear and effective steps that Christians can take:

1. Worship but do not go shopping on Sunday. Resist the temptation. Do what Israel did in the wilderness when the manna fell: Take care of all your shopping needs the other six days of the week.

2. Patronize businesses that close on Sunday. Make it clear to them that you appreciate their willingness to close and that you shopped there specifically for that reason.

3. Encourage your Christian friends to join you in lifting up your concern for honoring the Christian Sabbath.

4. Share your concern with letters to the editor of your local newspaper. Keep them positive, prodding shopkeepers to consider the benefits to all (including their employees) by giving them a Sunday rest.

5. Find ways to spend Sunday that honor God's call to use the day to rest and to refresh yourself through Bible reading, journaling, meditation or quiet conversation with God - outdoors if possible. Witness to the difference life in Christ makes.

Have we lost the Sabbath? Can we get it back? It depends on what we are prepared to do to rescue it.