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About this time, while the
Israelites were still in the wilderness, another very sad thing happened
among them. A man was found gathering sticks on the Sabbath
day. The people who saw him, knew how wrong this was; so they took
him directly, and brought him to Moses. Moses was very sorry to hear
what the man had done; but he did not himself pass sentence upon
him. God was the king and judge, and it was His law that had been
disobeyed: and therefore Moses went to God, and told Him all, and
asked what must be done, and how the man must be punished. And what
did God say? Perhaps we might think that the man had committed only
a little sin, and that God could not be very angry with him for gathering
a few sticks on the Sabbath day. But we must remember, God does not
look upon sin as we do. He cannot think disobedience to His laws a
little sin. The man knew it was wrong to do any work on the
Sabbath. He had stood by Mount Sinai on that dreadful day when the
Lord came down upon it in fire, to give His commands to the people; and he
had heard him say, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
Six days shalt 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." Exodus 20:8-10. The man knew, too, that God
had commanded the people to light no fire, and to dress no food, on the
Sabbath; and that no manna was sent that day, but a double portion the day
before, to teach them how very holy the Sabbath was. The man
remembered all this, and yet he dared to disobey the command of God.
This was not a little sin, but a dreadful act of rebellion against God;
and the punishment of it was dreadful, too. "The Lord said unto
Moses, the man shall be surely put to death; all the congregation shall
stone him with stones. And all the congregation stoned him with
stones, and he died." This
is a sad story. Learn from it how fearful it is to disobey the
commands of God: and particularly the command which tells us to keep
holy the Sabbath day. Many people break that command, even in this
Christian country. Some buy, and sell, and do their daily work on
Sunday, as on other days. And others spend the Sabbath in idle
conversation and amusements. But God has told us not to find our own
pleasure, nor to speak our own words, on His holy day; and He is as angry
with those who break the Sabbath secretly, at home, and in their own
families, as with those who break it openly. These wicked people,
perhaps, may escape unpunished for many weeks, and months, and years; but
all their sin is known to God, and written down in the book of His
remembrance. And if they do not repent, they will surely be punished
in another world, for breaking God's holy day here. Do
you love Sunday? Do you love holy duties, and holy pleasures, better
than any others? If not, you cannot be fit for Heaven. The
happy people there will spend eternity in praising God. This is
their greatest enjoyment: but it would be no enjoyment to you, if
you do not like to praise and worship God now. If you do not serve
Him here, you cannot live with Him, and sing his praises hereafter. Pray
to God to give you a new heart, and to make you love Him; and then you
will love holy things, and holy duties, and holy pleasures, better than
all the things of the world. You will be happy while you live; and,
when you die, you will go to that "rest which remaineth for the
people of God." Hebrews 4:9.
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