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Day of Days, September 25
And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and
you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.
Ezekiel 20:20
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The Sabbath should be made so interesting to our families that its
weekly return will be hailed with joy.
The Sabbath school and the meeting for worship occupy only a part
of the Sabbath. The portion remaining to the family may be made the
most sacred and precious season of all the Sabbath hours.
In the minds of the children the very thought of the Sabbath should
be bound up with the beauty of natural things.... Happy the father and
mother who can teach their children God’s written word with illustra-
tions from the open pages of the book of nature; who can gather under
the green trees, in the fresh, pure air, to study the Word and to sing the
praise of the Father above.
In pleasant weather let parents walk with their children in the fields
and groves. Amid the beautiful things of nature tell them the reason
for the institution of the Sabbath. Describe to them God’s great work
of creation. Tell them that when the earth came from His hand, it was
holy and beautiful. Every flower, every shrub, every tree, answered
the purpose of its Creator.... Show that it was sin which marred God’s
perfect work; that thorns and thistles, sorrow and pain and death, are all
the result of disobedience to God. Bid them see how the earth, though
marred with the curse of sin, still reveals God’s goodness.
If we can cultivate within us a beauty of soul corresponding to the
beauty of nature around us, there will be a blending of the divine and
human agencies.
As the sun goes down, let the voice of prayer and the hymn of praise
mark the close of the sacred hours and invite God’s presence through
the cares of the week of labor.
Thus parents can make the Sabbath, as it should be, the most joyful
day of the week. They can lead their children to regard it as a delight,
the day of days, the holy of the Lord, honorable.
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