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But the Sabbath day is free time -- free from all your daily cares and worries -- free to be com-
pletely absorbed in YEHOVAH and His Word.

YEHOVAH's Instruction

Notice YEHOVAH's positive instruction on the Sabbath: "If thou turn away thy foot [that
is, don't trample on it] from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sab-
bath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the
Lord" (Isaiah 58:13-14).

Let's understand the principle of Isaiah 58:13-14. What does "your ways," "your pleasure,"
"your words" mean?

1/. Your ways. This means course of life, mode of action -- that is, your employment, en-
terprises, finances, the serious business of making a livelihood. You should not involve yourself in
working at what you normally do during the week -- those things by which you feed, clothe and
care for yourself physically. This includes working around the house, sewing, cleaning, washing
the car -- all the things that pertain to your physical maintenance during the normal course of the
week.

2/. Your pleasure. Forsaking one's pleasure does not mean that the Sabbath is to be a rig-
orous day of abstinence. The principle is that we should avoid having our mind, time, and energy
taken up in hobbies, sports and pleasure-seeking. The Sabbath was not designed for activities such
as hunting, fishing, golfing, swimming, card playing, movies, television, boating -- those things
which take up the majority of our "leisure" time. This would also include the many time-consuming
hobbies such as "ham" radio, wood-working shop, stamp collecting, etc.

3/. Your words. This is the spiritual application of the first two principles. "Out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34). We talk about what we are thinking.
Our words show what is going on in our minds and hearts. This is obviously the most difficult of
all! We may cease doing our ways and our pleasures, but it is much more difficult to cease thinking
or talking about them. Here, again, we shouldn't become "Pharisaical" about this. It doesn't mean
you can't mention or discuss "physical" things. There is no such regulation as: "You may not spend
more than 30 seconds talking about cars on the Sabbath." You simply apply the principle by putting
your mind on the positive purposes for which the Sabbath was made.

Sabbath Begins at Sunset

In order to keep the Sabbath holy, we need to know when it occurs. Man begins his days at
midnight, but YEHOVAH's days begin and end at sunset. Notice Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31. In
every case the evening precedes the morning. Furthermore, YEHOVAH God commands us to cele-
brate His holy time from "even to even" (Leviticus 23:32. That is, from sunset to sunset.

Unfortunately, determining which day of the week in our Gregorian calendar of today the
Sabbath falls on is not quite so simple. The calendar of today has lost contact with the original

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