The Odessa American is one of the leading sources of local news information, entertainment, and sports for western Texas, particularly in the Permian Basin region. In a December 22, 2024 article titled “What Happened to Sundays and Christmas?”, the Odessa American claims that the gradual disregard for Sundays and Christmas has opened the doors for disobedience to govern our lives.
The Odessa American published the following:
• “If there is any single thing that has happened in my lifetime that is brutally tormenting, it is the gradual disregard for Sundays and Christmas Day. Growing up in the fifties and sixties, the remembering of stores being closed on Sunday and Christmas Day, very strongly lingers in my mind.” [1]
• “Apparently the presence of greed (1 Timothy 6:10) in our world has preempted the word and will of God. It is also evident, that for employers to sustain a monetary gain in their businesses, they feel the need to open on the days that have been deemed by our Creator as sacred.” [1]
• “We also have a large segment of the population for which Christmas Day and Sunday mean no more than a Monday or Wednesday.” [1]
• “When we open our stores or engage in those non-essential actions that our earthly wisdom tells us ‘That’s not so bad,’ we open a door for disobedience to govern our lives. We humans are vulnerable to our own notions and opinions. We are vulnerable to the retailers that tell us to shop and buy on Sunday.” [1]
• “We are vulnerable to the restaurants that cater to the after church crowd. How many of us have attended church on Sunday morning then ate lunch at a restaurant after the church service? Does that not encourage the restaurateurs to open their doors on the Sabbath?” [1]
• “Our indifferent attitudes toward the Sabbath and Christmas Day scream volumes about our disregard for our Creator. Just as our parents gave us life, Christ Jesus gave us eternity. How can anyone ignore that?” [1]
According to these statements, ignoring Sunday means ignoring eternal life. Remaining indifferent to the desecration of Sunday means ignoring our Creator. The Odessa American also claims that by patronizing stores on Sunday we are encouraging people to violate the Sabbath.
Here we see the secular news media advocating for the closure of businesses on Sundays in order to restore the sanctity of that day and encourage renewed reverence of God within society. They argue that the relentless pace of modern life and the 24/7 consumer culture have eroded the spirituality of Sunday, replacing rest and faith with commercial pursuits. By closing businesses on this day, they contend that we can reclaim God, faith, family, and community.
This is a fulfillment of what we read in the book The Great Controversy. Ellen White cautions us that the time will come when individuals and institutions will advocate for the enforcement of Sunday rest laws as the means to improve the moral decline in society. She warns that such measures will be promoted under the guise of restoring virtue and public decency by appealing to religion.
“Yet this very class put forth the claim that the fast-spreading corruption is largely attributable to the desecration of the so-called ‘Christian Sabbath,’ and that the enforcement of Sunday observance would greatly improve the morals of society. This claim is especially urged in America, where the doctrine of the true Sabbath has been most widely preached.“ (Great Controversy, p. 587).
All of these efforts to promote Sunday rest are deceptive because they divert attention from true obedience to God’s commandments and will lead to the erosion of religious liberty. We are commanded to be watchful and obedient to biblical truth at this precise moment, particularly with the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath as outlined in the Fourth Commandment.
“The Sabbath truth is to be presented to the world as the seal of the living God. Through it, God designs to distinguish His people from the disobedient and the careless.” (Evangelism, p. 233).
“The truth for this time, the third angel’s message, is to be proclaimed with a loud voice … The Sabbath of the fourth commandment is to be exalted before the people.” (Testimonies, Vol. 6, p. 353).
“The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty; for it is the point of truth especially controverted. When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those who serve God and those who serve Him not.” (Great Controversy, p. 605).
“In the closing work of the gospel, there is a special effort required to exalt the Sabbath and make it stand out in its true character.” (Prophets and Kings, p. 183).
“Let nothing lessen the force of the truth for this time; the third angel’s message must do its work of separating from the churches a people who will take their stand on the platform of eternal truth.” (Evangelism, p. 225).
Sources
[1] https://www.oaoa.com/people/religion/guest-view-what-happened-to-sundays-and-christmas/
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