Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1912-07-26

to keen i Il holy" and blessed Is the patton whose
IGOd FL tbe Lord" Now no nation or individual can
claim Jehovah as Lord who does not duly recognize
the Sabbath and properly observe It.
What is the Sabbath anyway! from the divine
viewpoint it is the day of the Lords " choosing
when all His creatures, men and women, boys ana
girls all should reverently worship before HIM ana
praise His name.
But what is the Sabbath? From what the gem
eral run of humanity answers it is a day SET a part
for individual personal pleasure; a day OF tnought
of nothing else but self and those Immediately con-
cerned. All too ready are we to remember the
Sabbath and keep it but wholly" for ourselves
and not holy before God. Under Gods planning
we rise early with ~reverent thoughts of Him ana
His day. Laying aside the v~exations and worries
of life the soul seeks His presence for the refresh,
Ling He alone can furnish. Here the Individual
worships the God of heaven in sincerity and is not
ashamed of it. According to our loose idea OF the
Sabbath we rise only as w feel disposed, and turn
our thoughts to our own choosing which is never
towards the things for which the Sabbath is set
apart. This careless recognition of the Lords day
is not without its evils. The person himself tnds
the Sabbath without its sacredness, the soul has
no real reverence for God and no praise and SER
vice so justly due Him are heard of. Then the in
huence that is had over other people. The rising
generation knows and honors the Lords day as
they are instructed both by precept and example.
With too many of us the Sabbath is no more than
to the heather who revels in the densest ignorance.
You who may chance to read thete lines, sit
down some time and count up, including yourself
and others as to how many people in Macon and
the surrounding community spend their Sabbaths
in the gaities of life with no thought of the Judge
on the Throne before whom all of us some day
must stand.
The old Puritan idea of the Sabbath, with all
Of it's strict regulation needs to be revived and the
need is appallingly great. How much further are
we to drift and unto what consequences the Infinite
only knows. There is day of reckoning ahead
somewhere, and woe betide the fate of the persis-
tently careless.
With far too many of us life's ways is what the
trail is to the hog. He goes all day long with his
nose to the ground picking up the acorns that fall
whence the acorns are coming. All days are ours.
The good things are lavishingly appropriated, the
unpleasant things are put aside at once, Week in
and week out, month after month, we go. never
pausing long enough to give our souls opportunity
to say to the Lord Thank YOU"
If we, as enlightened as we seem to be, do not
recognize the superiority of God and the rightful
demands of His law and commands, what may we
expect from those who are ignorant of Him alto
gether. The young people have already drifted
into that careless idea and find themselves plan
ming for a good time rather than going to places Of
prayer and praise. The children are lnDlblng the
same ~principls and growing up to years Of maturi-
ty will spend the Sabbath like so many do now in
idleness and pleasure. The Sabbath is to the world
of humanity what the eventide and nightfall are to
the weary toler when his days work is done. He
rests. refreshes and recuperates the tired body for
the tolls and tasks Of another day. So at the end
Of the week the spiritual part of our being should
be encouraged to turn hopefully toward the Foun-
tain of perennial youth for renewal and ~reinvigo-
ration for the duties and difficulties of the coming
week. To use the Sabbath other than for Him and
His worship is to dishonor him who has appointed
it. Under the existing observance of the Sabbath
what is it worth in building up the real life of any
Iof us.
What is the opinion of the Church people,
worth in forming real character and preparing
men and women for permanent, ~effectual living7
Some body will have to answer these questions
some where and o m time. H.
Matters political, agricultural and spiritual will