The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1906-04-06

4
thou labor and do all thy work: but
the seventh day is the Sabbath OF the
Lord, thy God: in it thou shalt not do
any work, thou, nor thy son nor thy
daughter, thy manservant nor thy
maidservant, nor thy cattle. nor thy
stranger that is within thy gates: For
In six days the Lord made heaven and
earth, the sea and all that in them is,
and rested the seventh day: where
fore the Lord blessed the seventh day
and hallowed tx. 20:S, 3. 10 and
III.
This command, like all commands
! emanating from the Creator, applies
to man-to man as a sentient being.
| Nature, which is often COMPOUNDED
with God, is ceaseless in its move
ments Natures works go on forever.
Ceaseless and evermore the rivers run
from the mountains to the sea. and
with God, is ceaseless in her move
mnts and continuous in Its roar. This
earth Of ours is ever moving onward,
and John Jasper, the Richmond color
ed divine. was right in saying that the
"sun do move"
The birds MARBLE their morning ma
tins and the squirrels leap from bough
to bough and the butterflies exhibit
their wondrous beauty. All days are
alike to them. Nature sets the ex-
ample of activity. She is ever go
ing forward and her mysteries are ever
being revealed.
Another thing noticeable in the
wonderful story of creation is that
1.-The evening and the morning were the
day" Nothing is said of the night
The supposition is that night is made
for bodily rest.
Six days God worked. The suppo-
sition is that when the morning light
first streaked the eastern horizon He
began his labors and only when night
threw her sable robes over the scene
QlQ lie cease from InefM
The edict is, in "the sweat of thy
face thou shalt earn thy bread"
six days shalt thou labor" that's
the command, and the hours are sup
posed to be from sun to sun.
This command to labor applies to
all mankind. The world is to be bee
hive of industry. All are to be work.
ers. There are to he no drones. Work
is life; inertia, death.
1t is not, however, to be all work and
no play. God is a sensible God. I'm
der a ceaseless strain, the tension
would be too great and the mind would
give way; and, instead, of man making
the great achievements. which show
that he is a part of the divine nature,
he would accomplish nothing. Rest is
"a part of his divine attributes.
God rested from his iabors.. Only
those who labor can rest. IT. is
sweet to those. Like balmly sleep, 1t
Is all comforting. But to those who
do not labor rest becomes a labor. II
becomes tiresome and the world loses
it's luster. it's grandeur and it's beau
ty. Life becomes a spectre; exis-
tence, a nightmare
To enjoy the world we must do as
God says. We must obey his laws:
give explicit obedience to his COM
mands.
God Rested the Seventh Day.
This command is universal in It's ap-
plication. 1t applies to all the house
hold; to the whole family of man. To
the stranger that is within thy gates;
to the wife, son and daughter; to the
manservant and the maidservant and
to the beast of burden that is in thy
employment.
This rest" we take it, means
"a surcease from the daily
grind. The doing of that which
will lessen the tension, which will
bring enjoyment, which will lengthen
a mans days and bring to the world,
not only solemnity and piety, but
laughter, mirth and song.
The rigid church disciplinarian, who
sits down to a hot dinner, the labor
Of his domestics, is not in a position
to sit in judgment on the man. who
steals out with rod and reel to some
shady spot on some sequestered stream
and forgets the perplexities of life's
daily grind in this manner of recrea-
ton.
Rest and recreation are wide in
their applications.
AS no two members Of a family are
alike in looks or temperament so
there is a diversification running
through the warp and wool of human
nature. What is rest for one man is
labor for another. What is pleasure
for one is vexation for the other. so