"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." God made the Sabbath for man; he made it holy, and desires that we keep it holy.
The sabbath begins at sundown, - not an hour after sunset, but when the sun goes down. The first hour and the last are as holy as the noon hour; and to desecrate the Sabbath at its beginning or at its close is to be a Sabbath-breaker, and thus to fail to keep the Sabbath.
How supremely selfish it is, once we stop to think of it, to take from the Lord a whole, or a part, of the Sabbath for our own pursuits, when he in his love has given us six days of time for ourselves.
Sam Jones used to tell a story which well illustrates the sin of Sabbath-breaking:
A needy man met a friend, and asked him for some money. The second man had but seven dollars in his pocket. In the goodness of his heart, he gave him six dollars, explaining that he reserved but one dollar for himself and his family. The man who had been generous passed on, night overtook him, and he lay down to sleep. The man who had received the six dollars crept stealthily up, and stole from him the other dollar. "Who was this thief?" asked Mr. Jones. "Why you who get your business mail and do other business on Sabbath morning. God has only seven days; and has given you six for your business affairs, and you slip up and steal a good part of the seventh."
It is comparatively easy to allow the cares of life to crowd us so that we take from the Lord a part of the one day he has reserved for himself. Let us not be so selfish in the pursuit of the things of this earth that after he has given us six days, we shall take from the Lord a part of the remaining one day which he has reserved as holy unto himself.
Taken from The Review and Herald 25th August, 1910, by G. B. Thompson.
© S. D. Goeldner, February, 2011. Last updated July, 2020.
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