Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-12-04

"The Sabbath was made Tor man
not man Tor the Sabbath"
So said the Savior OF the world
There is divine philosophy in al
his sayings. and in this one there IS
a philosophy that applies to all tho
commandments that God has given tc
man. Whenever our heavenly Father
has spoken to his children on earth
and commanded them to do 81 certain
thing. IL was not to lay a burden
upon them. not to bring trouble upon
them: but to confer blessing, and puj
them I'm n Position TO be still further
blest. In our weak. human way OF
looking at things. we are apt TO think
that when we keep Gods command
ments we are doing him a favor We
reason falsely regarding such mat
ters. j am not one of those who be-
heve that In going to the house Of the
Lord on the Sabbath day. I am con-
ferring a favor upon the Almighty. [
believe the benefit is from him to
me-not from me to him. This is true
regarding every commandment and
every law of God.
The Lord has commanded us to keep
the sabbath day. When he created tho
earth and all that it contains includ-
5ng man and woman. formed and FASH
Toned in the image of Il divine paren-
tngc. he labored for six days and rest
ed upon the seventh day, and sanctI-
fed IL and commanded man to do like
wise. Now. I believe God Intended
that for blessing. It may involve
what We call a sacrifice to lay aside
our daily employment-put by the
spade and hoe. come out from be-
hind the counter. and away from
the desk. TO rest upon the seventh day
and hear the word of God-it may
involve little sacrifice; but all Gods
commandments involve sacrifices, and
"sacri1ce brings forth the blessings
of heaven"
WHAT IS SACRIFICE?
Some reason falsely uron the prIn-
cIple of sacrifice 1 have heard men
speak of it as II 1t meant Ioss-un-
paid loss. and unpayable. l do not so
regard It. Any sacrifice that man is re-
quired TO make Is simply a discipline,
n preparation. through Syhich lie will
receive greater blessing than the one
he relinquished. 1t might be compared
to the farmer sowing the seedgrain
uIon the soil. He parts with a portion
of his wealth but he receives in re-
turn. under the smile of providence.
thirty, sixty or an hundred fold I
do not think We ought to calculate
when we make sacrifices We should
and obey him only when we feel sure
of reward or something in return.
But whether we calculate or not, IL we
make Sacriiice-and, especially, if
we make II In the proper spirit, we
will take up far more than we laid
down. That is a law of God. He never
demanded a sacrifice of anybody, but
he had in view the bestowal of a
greater blessing.
ADVANTAGE OF SABBATH KEEP
ING.
There Is something in the ccon-
omy of God that requires rest upon
the seventh day. 1t makes man moro
capable of working during the six
days. He who ignores the Sabbath,
and breaks the commandment TO rest
which Is just as sacred as the COM
mandment TO labor-will not be as
capable of working when he resumes
his task on Monday morning as one
who has laid aside his task and rest
cd uron the seventh day. have MOTTO
ed all my life that those who keep the
Sabbath and n-cst their bodies ard
minds, accomplish more during the
SIX days than the Sabbath breakers
during the seven days. No man ever
broke commandment OF God and
made anything by It. No man ever
gained by desccrating that which Is
sacred. | never knew thing done
cn Sunday. unnecessarily that did not
have to be done over again-ground
had been lost instead of gained am
speaking. In part. from personal cX-
pericnce. At times j have been tempt
cd to believe that / could use the Sab
bath for work and make headway, when
something Was pressing; but ] have
found whenever that work was not
necessary that 1 had to make up for
1t during the week. / had to rest, and,
frequently, do over again what I had
done on the Sabbath day. 1 have
learned. by observation and experience,
that this is law of God. 1t did not
have its origin In human caprice. but
In divine desire to bless man and
make him more capable and more
happy. But many think of this law,
as Of other laws of God. that 1t is a
burden, a yoke; and il they keep the
they do it grudgingly.
and think they are comforting a favor
upon the Lord. He does not need our
favors. We have no power to bless
hint is the greater that blesses the
lesser; and when we keep Gods COM
ii is in order that we may
be blest. And yet, the Lord is pleased
with our obedience. because He desires
TO make US happy and desires us to
and there is only one way to
and that Is to keep his COM
mandments.
CHANGE is REST.
What is rest? 1t is not idleness. No
man can be idle and be happy. The
proper Idea of rest is change. 1t is
related Of President Garfield that while
member of the house of representa-
tlves, he was seen one day coming out
OF the congressional library. with his
arms full OF books A friend asked
him what he intended doing with those
books, and he answered. IT am going
to rest my mind by reading them"
"Why," said his friend. "wIll that rest