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Sabbath Evening

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 24, 1872

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 40, No. 15.

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Sabbath Evening.

By Lydia J. Shaw

With what delight do I hail the approach of Sabbath evening. After six days’ toil, how sweet to lay aside the world with its care, and devote one day to God.
“There’s something in those hours Which end the weary week, That to the heart at peace with God Seems calm delight to speak.”
I love the anticipation of this evening. I love the stillness. I think of the approaching day of sacred rest. My weary soul needs it, and desires it.
I love the appropriate duty of this evening, self-examination. Although it brings to mind many sins of the day and week that is past, yet it is profitable. It leads me to the throne of grace, to the Saviour of sinners, looking to God for a preparation of heart which I so much need, that God’s holy day may be a blessing to my soul.
My heart needs to be emptied of worldliness and vanity. It needs to be brought into nearer communion with God and with holy things. It needs a deeper apprehension of sinfulness, and a livelier and stronger faith in Him who is my hope.
How can I profit by Sabbath days’ mercies, unless my spiritual frame is in harmony with their sacredness? Yes, if I desire to be blessed by Sabbath privileges, I must go to the Saviour for the heart that can appropriate and improve them, having determined that the great object of my life is the glory of God, and that love be the foundation of all my efforts. Every hour of my life, every faculty of my mind, every member of my body, should be completely and wholly consecrated to God, seeking to have my whole life molded into an exact conformity to the will of God. I am resolved by the grace of God to make every thought, word, and action, pay tribute unto Him who is the way, the truth, and the life. This is a hard task to do, to bring my sinful heart into subjection, but I am sure that it is no more than my duty to God; for he says, Be ye holy, for I am holy. Why, therefore, should I think it too much to do for Him who has done so much for me, that I might have eternal life?
LYDIA J. SHAW.
Strykersville, N. Y., Sept. 15, 1872.