Editorial April 19, 1924 Issue

On Keeping the Sabbath

Albert F. Gilmore

The prophets and seers of the Bible entertained no doubt as to the true significance of the Sabbath day and of the necessity for keeping it holy. "Blessed is the man that ... keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil," declared Isaiah. Keeping the Sabbath and refraining from the doing of evil were definitely associated in the minds of the prophets as necessary to the fulfillment of the law.

How far modern thought has departed from this standard is patent to all. Observance of the Sabbath day as a time for spiritual refreshment through communion with God has to an alarming extent disappeared. So intent upon amusement seeking have the people become, that with many the Sabbath but offers another opportunity for the pursuit of pleasure through indulgence of the material senses. To be sure, many justify themselves on the ground that, because of busy lives through the week, and many others because of sedentary pursuits, they are entitled to the pleasure and refreshment gained from a day in the open, regardless of the spiritual demands which would require attendance upon church services, and the observance of the forms of worship.

This view, it is apparent, is founded upon the theory that existence is material, dependent upon physical conditions, which are improved through the medium of outdoor pleasurable exercise, and from contact with nature. This viewpoint entirely overlooks the great fact that Life is God, and that man, as His reflection or image, is spiritual and perfect; and that, in consequence, the greatest refreshment and most successful recreation result, not from deeper indulgence of physical sense, but from contemplation of the things of Spirit, the source of all strength, inspiration, and renewal.

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"Be thou faithful"
April 19, 1924
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