Counsel #4 — A Principled Approach

Picture: Counsel #4 — A Principled ApproachCCL 51.1

The opposite extreme to disrespecting the Sabbath is turning it into a task to earn God’s approval. At the time of Christ, Jewish leaders had become so hyper-focused on people breaking the Sabbath that they had created hundreds of nonsensical “Sabbath-keeping” rules. For example, while emphasizing that people should not harvest a field on the Sabbath, Jewish leaders had forbidden picking even a few grains. Jesus challenged this approach to the law. His example shows that keeping the law is not about splitting hairs or going to extremes. Instead, the law should shape our inner motives and intentions.^{[79]https://adventistreview.org/2010-1517/2010-1517-24/}CCL 51.2

“At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, ‘Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!’” Matthew 12:1, 2CCL 51.3

“Jesus taught that the law of God should regulate the thoughts and purposes of the mind. True godliness elevates the thoughts and actions; then the external forms of religion accord with the Christian's internal purity; then those ceremonies required in the service of God are not meaningless rites, like those of the hypocritical Pharisees.” Ellen White in The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 2, p. 218.2CCL 51.4

Reflect: When it comes to observing the Sabbath, do we follow the principles of Scripture, or do we impose rules on ourselves that don’t align with God’s intentions?CCL 51.5