Culmination; Beginning in Earnest

"The demands upon God are even greater upon the Sabbath than upon other days. His people then leave their usual employment, and spend the time in meditation and worship. They ask more favors of Him on the Sabbath than upon other days. They demand His special attention. They crave His choicest blessings. God does not wait for the Sabbath to pass before He grants these requests."- Desire of Ages, page 207

There is something special about the going down of the sun on Friday night.
The book, Education, states that "few think of [the result of hastening or hindering of the gospel] in relation to God. Few give thought to the suffering sin has caused our Creator." And after this statement broadened my perspective, sometimes I wonder what it must be like for God as He awaits the reception of His people on Sabbath. This side of Heaven, it must be like a temporary relief from a persistent smoldering infinite wound, as God's people have been invited to come into the presence of a Holy God, having put their sins from them. But what occupies my mind most at this introduction of the Sabbath is His work: the demands He fulfills on our request. On this day, we demand His special attention.

Each time I am asked to teach Sabbath School, I have difficulty declining, because of these previous thoughts. And when Friday night rolls around, my mind moves to the class to be taught the following morning. Throughout the week, ruminations occur and get tossed around and placed together and verses are meditated upon, and supplication is made. And though all this work culminates on Sabbath at the Sabbath School, it is truthfully the most earnest beginning in which God's Word is brought before the class for the education of the conscious and the enlistment of the will of each of us, teacher included.

This is what we do as Sabbath School teachers. And the burden becomes not one of entertainment of the hearers, but what can be done in order for the people to receive the Word that softens the heart and subdues the turmoil. And when teens are involved, the work has a particular weight, because it is this class of individuals where the right introduction of Truth is pivotal. And the need of each is seldom acknowledged in this class. As a teacher, how does one get them to see their need of a Savior?

And I am grateful for a little view of God's burden for humanity since the promise given to Adam. Essentially, God puts forth the question, How do I get them to see their need of my Son? Especially in this time of Judgment. It is then that I realize that on Sabbath, this work begins in earnest, for in order to approach the magnitude of Holiness of the presence of the Almighty God, our great need must be made apparent to us, and acknowledged by us.

How can I not give my best on Sabbath Morning? On days like this, I see more clearly that Christ is working on my behalf, to help me see my need of Him. And that His heart breaks for me when like a teenager, I refuse to see my need, even much more than my heart breaks for the people.