One of the greatest blessings God ever gifted me with was the ability to THINK and think deeply. For decades I did not have that ability. I would do or say something that showed clearly I did not think at all before acting. But my Creator was intent on redeeming me and bringing me into conformity to His will. To do so, He knew He had to intervene and grant me the ability to think deeply, long and hard, before acting. The ramifications of that faculty were and still are far reaching. It enabled me not only to avoid habitual sin, it also enabled me to really begin comprehending and understanding the scriptures. This became especially true regarding God’s holy, eternal Sabbath day.
I realized early on that basically good and honorable men and women could err and err greatly. Devout and honorable people can be deceived and misled. A person of good moral character can be utterly wrong in what they believe to be true. (See Acts 13:50). God had seen to it that in my life I interacted with Christians widely divergent in their religious beliefs and practices. For a short time I played the organ for an Episcopal church in Lexington, Kentucky. I later did the same for a Roman Catholic congregation. In Houston, Texas I became friends with several Mormon families and even attended many Mormon Sunday services. Raised in the Baptist tradition, I attended a small Baptist college in Lexington, Kentucky for one year. Through the years I attended and participated in several Pentecostal services and meetings. I realized that most of those with whom I interacted were basically good people, law-abiding citizens, and students of the Bible, yet I also discerned that they differed widely and dramatically in many of the doctrines they held to be true and supported by the scriptures. I realized fully that the human mind is, therefore, prone to deception and error. This, of course, included my own mind. I then knew I had to do two things in order to free up my mind from error and to come fully into the knowledge of spiritual truth: 1) I had to depart from sin, once and for all making my repentance genuine and complete, and 2) I had to search the scriptures – all of them, New AND Old Testaments, diligently and with a completely open mind, permitting God’s Word to sweep away all error from my mind and instill in me His eternal truth.
I read the four gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) dozens and dozens of times slowly and carefully, examining every word therein. Often referring to an English/Greek New Testament to verify the deepest meaning of every word therein. I noticed that John mentioned the Sabbath eleven times in his gospel account, never once calling it the “Jewish” Sabbath, yet he does speak of the “Jewish” Passover, the “Jew’s” Feast of Tabernacles, and the “Jew’s” Preparation Day. Twice he mentions “a feast of the Jews.” But he never once refers to God’s holy, eternal Sabbath as being the “Jewish” Sabbath. I noticed that Mark recorded the statement that Jesus Christ had said the Sabbath “was made for man.” (See Mark 2:27). I also noticed that the Greek word translated as “man” in that verse is the Greek word anthropos (pronounced anthro-‘POS), meaning “mankind.” That Greek word is the root word from whence we get the word anthropology – the study of mankind! The Sabbath was sanctified and hallowed at creation centuries before there was ever a Jew on this earth. (See Genesis 2:1-3). I then realized that when preachers, ministers, pastors referred to “the Jewish Sabbath” they were in error and thereby misleading their hearers, however unwittingly.
The vital importance of keeping the Sabbath from God’s perspective, observing those hours as holy time, is seen in the punishment Sabbath breaking brought upon Israel – the destruction of the holy city of Jerusalem and the destruction of God’s own temple. (See Jeremiah Chapter 17). To His rebel nation God said, “Even from the days of your fathers you are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them” (See Malachi 3:7). Sadly, God now says the same to the Christian world! Sabbath observance was abandoned long ago by multitudes of professing Christians. What God long ago said to His people Israel He now says of the Christian world: “They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return.” (See Jeremiah 8:5). Trying to get a Sunday observer to abandon Sunday keeping and embrace once again God’s holy, eternal Sabbath day is generally a lost cause. They just will not do it. Here and there they have a scripture they think supports them in their rebellion. Looking about them, they say, “All these people can’t be wrong!” They forget that scripture warns: “Satan deceives THE WHOLE WORLD!” (See Revelation 12:9).
Do I appreciate what God has done for me? Yes, enough to forego much needed sleep and rest and to clean urinals and toilets six days a week in order to generate a few dollars to underwrite the cost of getting God’s Word out to as many as possible before I close my eyes in death. Yes, I appreciate what God has done for me. My Creator and I have a good relationship. He does for me what I cannot do for myself and I do for Him all that time and my limited resources will allow. Yes, my God and I are at peace with one another.
Christ’s Thankful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley