THE FAMILY ALTAR

October 12.

"Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day?" Luke14:3.

We Christians, of course, know that it is not against God's

holy Law to cure the sick or perform any other work of mercy on

any day of the week, be it Sunday or not. But the blind Pharisees

in Christ's time held it unlawful to do so on the Sabbath; and

so our Savior by word and deed must teach them the contrary.

On the Sabbath He heals a man who had the dropsy, and asks

them the convincing question: "Which of you shall have an ass

or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out

on the Sabbath-day?" Jesus has forever freed us from the old

Jewish Sabbath law. We now know only one Sabbath, and that is

the blessed Sabbath, or rest, of the heart that we find by faith

in Him. To keep this Sabbath of the heart unbroken should be

our chief object in life. Hence our Sundays ought to be real days

of rest and of communion with Him. Alas ! too many make their

Sunday a day of unnecessary work or, in most cases, a day of

worldly pleasure. They will not go to church and feast their starv-

ing souls on the Bread of Life in Christ's sweet Gospel, but they

will lounge around their homes or offices until supper time and

go and feast their eyes on the suggestive pictures and acts shown

at the theater. Said a broken-hearted mother bursting into tears :

"0 my child; my child! He is just committed to prison; and

I fear he will never return to his father's house. Oh, that theater !

He was a virtuous, kind boy till the theater proved his ruin !"

But no Christian parents will let their sons and daughters go to

the theater at any time, rather seek to make home pleasant for

them, especially on Sundays. As we and our children spend our

Sundays, so our week-days, so our lives will be influenced for good

or for evil. God help us to sanctify especially our Sundays by His

Word, by prayer, by doing deeds of Christian love, and by keeping

only Christian company.