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Give God His Day

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 14, 1871

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 37, No. 13.

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Give God His Day.

The following is good advice relative to the Sabbath. Mr. Ryle wrote it for Sunday. We adapt it to the truth by changing that word wherever it occurs to Sabbath.
Reader, do not be a robber. He that steals, breaks God's eighth commandment. Above all, do not rob God. The Sabbath is God's property. Give God his day.
I entreat you, for your soul's sake, not to profane the Sabbath, but to keep it holy. Do not buy and sell, or idle your time on the Sabbath. Let not the example of all around you, let not the invitation of companions, let none of these things, move you to depart from this settled rule, that God's day shall be given to God.
The Sabbath is one of the greatest blessings which God has given to man. Do not make a bad use of this blessing. He that cannot give God his Sabbath is unfit for Heaven. Heaven is an eternal Sabbath. Oh! while you live, give God his day.
Once give over caring for the Sabbath, and in the end you will give over caring for your soul. The steps which lead to this conclusion are easy and regular. Begin with not honoring God's day, and you will soon not honor God's house; cease to honor God's house, and you will soon cease to honor God's book; cease to honor God's book, and by-and-by you will give God no honor at all.
Let a man lay the foundation of having no Sabbath, and I am never surprised if he finishes with the topstone of no God. It is a remarkable saying of Judge Hale, “Of all the persons who were convicted of capital crimes while he was upon the bench, he found only a few who would not confess, on inquiry, that they began their career of wickedness by a neglect of the Sabbath.”
Reader, resolve, by God's help, that you will always remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Honor it by regular attendance at some place where the gospel is preached. Settle down under a faithful ministry, and once settled, let your place in church never be empty. GIVE GOD HIS DAY.—J. C. Ryle.