April 24

Isaiah 58:13‑14
“If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it”— Isaiah 58:13, 1413If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 58:13‑14).
IT is of all importance to realize that men are more to God than forms and ceremonies, even of His own devising. “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:2727And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: (Mark 2:27)). He who is “Lord ... of the sabbath” is pleased when we use His holy day to bless and help those in trouble, and to relieve the afflicted, so far as we are able to do so. Truly to keep the first day of the week holy to the Lord is to use it for rest, worship, and ministry to others. To think only of relaxation, and to spend this day in pleasure-seeking, is to misuse it and to fail to enter into the purpose God has had in mind in preserving its privileges for us. “I get so weary with all the burdens of business throughout the week,” said a Christian tradesman to me once, “that I must have rest and exercise on Sunday. So I use the Lord’s Day afternoons visiting in the hospital and seeking to comfort and help the friendless.” He returned to work on Monday refreshed and ready for another six days of toil.
Let us cherish our privileges and neither despise them, on the one hand, nor hedge them about with legal enactments, on the other, for which there is no Biblical authorization.
“O sacred day of peace and joy!
Thy hours are ever dear to me.
Ne’er may a single thought destroy
The holy calm I feel for thee.
Thy hours are precious unto me,
For God has given them in His love,
To tell how calm, how blest shall be
The sabbath rest of heaven above.”