Gods Sabbath

O UR N EED FOR THE S ABBATH

383

serve Sunday as a special day of rest? On that day they cease from their regular employment and attend church services. If they truly believe in keeping the Sabbath every day of the week, then why do they treat the first day of the week as holy? Furthermore, if they respect one day above the rest, then why not the one God designates? The real facts are that we cannot adhere to the Sabbath rest principles during the six working days, unless we receive, on the seventh—the biblical Sabbath—the light and power which God provides through the special communion available on that day. The seventh-day Sabbath is a God-given necessity for humanity. No other day can take its place. To the extent that we fail to re ceive from it what God makes available through it, we will be in capable of practicing the Sabbath rest principles during the rest of the week. To that degree, we will replace God with ourselves as the Plan Maker, Problem Solver, and Burden Bearer. If we separate ourselves from our Maker in this way, we will eventu ally make a fearful mess of His plans for our life. The Lord is totally selfless in all His actions—He does noth ing for selfish reasons. When God created Adam and Eve in their sinless state, He knew their need of the Sabbath and provided it accordingly. When He had placed our first parents in their Eden home, He blessed the seventh day, sanctified it and gave it to the holy pair as a love-gift. “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rest ed from all the work of creating that he had done.” Genesis 2:2–3. The Lord deliberately arranged for the Sabbath to be institut ed in order to satisfy the needs of humankind. It was not de signed to fulfill any needs of His own. He did not desire recogni tion or respect for His absolute authority and position for His own sake. For too long has Satan impressed on human minds the idea that God is a selfish despot who imposes His will on His creatures for His own benefit. The devil’s concepts have been so Made for Man not for God