What Sabbath Does to God's People
Sunday, July 3, 2022
Here there is no Greek or Jew, . . . but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. . . . And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Col. 3:11-14, NIV.
Father was a small farmer, eking out a modest income working the soil, planting vegetables and flowers, and taking them to market. As a young man he had nurtured great ambitions to study medicine and become a missionary. But the war had interfered, and he had ended up farming, never quite comfortable in the overalls and wooden shoes farmers used in those days.
Thus I remember well the dramatic contrast in his appearance Friday evening at the beginning of Sabbath. He came down slowly from the upstairs bedroom just as the sun was setting. The steep staircase did not reveal his full height at once. First I saw the black wingtip shoes, polished to a brilliant shine. Then the black socks, the well-creased trousers, the bottom of his waistcoat, the white shirt with tie, open jacket, hair groomed to perfection.
"Are we going somewhere?" we would ask with excitement upon seeing him dressed up.
"No," he replied, "we are not going anywhere, but Someone is coming tonight, and we must be ready to meet Him."
Years later Father entered business and eventually became a pastor. During those difficult war years he may have appeared to be a common laborer struggling with serious physical ailments, but deep inside he remained a man of great dignity, extraordinary personal and mental health, and stubborn faith, who never lost sight of his calling. And once a week, on Sabbath, at God's invitation, he became the pastor he always wanted to be. There never was a common laborer like him in our village, with such inner balance, such spiritual health, such dignity for all to see on one day each week: God's day.
On the Sabbath day we are equal before God. No one gives the other an order or demands a service. On this day janitor, university president, student, and faculty member share the same pew and study the Bible on an equal basis. That makes a healthy community. What is more, we do not achieve such equality by putting everyone down to the same level, but by lifting everyone up to the same level, namely, that of a son and daughter of God.
How can you make the Sabbath day special and on this day be the person God created you to be?
Father was a small farmer, eking out a modest income working the soil, planting vegetables and flowers, and taking them to market. As a young man he had nurtured great ambitions to study medicine and become a missionary. But the war had interfered, and he had ended up farming, never quite comfortable in the overalls and wooden shoes farmers used in those days.
Thus I remember well the dramatic contrast in his appearance Friday evening at the beginning of Sabbath. He came down slowly from the upstairs bedroom just as the sun was setting. The steep staircase did not reveal his full height at once. First I saw the black wingtip shoes, polished to a brilliant shine. Then the black socks, the well-creased trousers, the bottom of his waistcoat, the white shirt with tie, open jacket, hair groomed to perfection.
"Are we going somewhere?" we would ask with excitement upon seeing him dressed up.
"No," he replied, "we are not going anywhere, but Someone is coming tonight, and we must be ready to meet Him."
Years later Father entered business and eventually became a pastor. During those difficult war years he may have appeared to be a common laborer struggling with serious physical ailments, but deep inside he remained a man of great dignity, extraordinary personal and mental health, and stubborn faith, who never lost sight of his calling. And once a week, on Sabbath, at God's invitation, he became the pastor he always wanted to be. There never was a common laborer like him in our village, with such inner balance, such spiritual health, such dignity for all to see on one day each week: God's day.
On the Sabbath day we are equal before God. No one gives the other an order or demands a service. On this day janitor, university president, student, and faculty member share the same pew and study the Bible on an equal basis. That makes a healthy community. What is more, we do not achieve such equality by putting everyone down to the same level, but by lifting everyone up to the same level, namely, that of a son and daughter of God.
How can you make the Sabbath day special and on this day be the person God created you to be?
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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