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Keeping the Sabbath as a Family, May 26
Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who
keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love
Him and keep His commandments.
Deuteronomy 7:9
, NKJV.
Search the scriptures, parents. Be not only hearers, but doers of the Word.
Meet God’s standard in the education of your children. Let them see that you are
preparing for the Sabbath on the working days of the week. All preparation should
be made, every stitch taken, on the six working days; all cooking for the Sabbath
should be done on the preparation day. It is possible to do this, and if you make it a
rule, you can do it....
Explain your work and its purpose to your children, and let them help them-
selves and their parents in their preparation to keep the Sabbath according to the
commandment. Lead your children to consider the Sabbath a delight, the day of
days, the holy of the Lord, honorable....
On Friday the clothing of the children ... should all be laid out by their own
hands under the direction of the mother, so that they can dress quickly, without
any confusion or rushing about, and hasty speeches.... This is God’s holy day; the
day that He has set apart to commemorate His creative works; a day which He has
sanctified and hallowed....
On the Sabbath, parents should give all the time they can to their children,
thus making it a delight. I have seen many families where father, mother, and the
older members of the household take themselves away from the younger children,
and leave them to amuse themselves as best they can. After a while, the children
become weary and go out of doors, and engage in play or some kind of mischief.
Thus the Sabbath has no sacred significance to them. In pleasant weather the
parents can take their children out for a walk in the fields and forest, and talk to
them of the lofty trees, the shrubs and flowers, and teach them that God is the
Maker of all these things. Then teach them the reasons for the Sabbath, that it is to
commemorate God’s created works. After working six days, He rested the seventh,
and blessed and hallowed the day of His rest. Thus the most profitable instruction
can be given.—
Lake Union Herald, April 14, 1909
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