The Rush of Life

It had been a very busy week. Although she knew there was a lot to be done before Sabbath, the urgent seemed to consume the important, and before she knew it, the sun had gone down. The family shared a special Friday night meal and worship together.

But when Sabbath morning came and she woke up early, she couldn’t help noticing the dirty bathroom, which she wiped down. Then she saw that her young son had wet the bed, so she threw his sheets into the washer with other clothes. As she prepared breakfast for her family, she realized there was no dessert for lunch, so she quickly baked some banana bread. She saw that her husband needed a shirt ironed for church, so she did that, too, then folded some clothes and took out the trash.

And then it hit her. It’s Sabbath—a day I love more than any other! Yet here I am, doing all these chores and allowing these things to distract me from what Sabbath is really about—drawing near to God.

For just a moment, her mind started justifying her actions—these were all things that needed doing. Were they really? She realized that she was acting like Martha, “distracted with much serving” (Luke 10:40, NKJV), but the words of Jesus echoed in her mind: “ ‘You are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her’ ” (Luke 10:41, 42, NKJV). That good part. Sitting at Jesus’ feet out of a deep love for Him—not just on Sabbath, but every day. She hadn’t chosen that this morning.

She loved God, yet it was easy to forget that He had given her the Sabbath as a gift in time to make their relationship stronger. Silent tears fell from her eyes as she stood there in the kitchen.

The purpose of this example is not to focus on what we should or shouldn’t do on Sabbath; rather it is a reminder of why it’s important for us to notice the things that weaken or break down our relationship with God. When our hearts feel the pain of sin and separation and we call out to Him, Jesus is very close (Ps. 53:2). In His bloodstained hands, He holds a white robe. He sees our tears of repentance and takes away our dirty clothes. He then wraps His pure robe of righteousness all the way around us. His purity covers our confessed sin—completely and perfectly. We can wash our robe in His blood (Rev. 7:14).

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Additional Reading: Selected Quotes from Ellen G. White

The parable of the wedding garment [Matthew 22:1-14] opens before us a lesson of the highest consequence. . . . By the wedding garment in the parable is represented the pure, spotless character which Christ’s true followers will possess. . . . The fine linen, says the Scripture, “is the righteousness of saints.” It is the righteousness of Christ, His own unblemished character, that through faith is imparted to all who receive Him as their personal Saviour.
The white robe of innocence was worn by our first parents when they were placed by God in holy Eden. They lived in perfect conformity to the will of God. . . . A beautiful soft light, the light of God, enshrouded the holy pair. . . . But when sin entered, they severed their connection with God, and the light that had encircled them departed. Naked and ashamed, they tried to supply the place of the heavenly garments by sewing together fig leaves for a covering.
We cannot provide a robe of righteousness for ourselves, for the prophet says, “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). There is nothing in us from which we can clothe the soul so that its nakedness shall not appear. We are to receive the robe of righteousness woven in the loom of heaven, even the spotless robe of Christ’s righteousness.
God has made ample provision that we may stand perfect in His grace, wanting in nothing, waiting for the appearing of our Lord. Are you ready? Have you the wedding garment on? That garment will never cover deceit, impurity, corruption, or hypocrisy. The eye of God is upon you. It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We may conceal our sins from the eyes of men, but we can hide nothing from our Maker.—God’s Amazing Grace, p. 24.

The Lord Jesus Christ has prepared a covering—the robe of His own righteousness—that He will put on every repenting, believing soul who by faith will receive it. Said John, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Sin is the transgression of the law. Christ died to make it possible for every man to have his sins taken away.
A fig-leaf apron will never cover our nakedness. Sin must be taken away, and the garment of Christ’s righteousness must cover the transgressor of God’s law. Then when the Lord looks upon the believing sinner, He sees, not the fig leaves covering him, but Christ’s own robe of righteousness, which is perfect obedience to the law of Jehovah. Man has hidden his nakedness, not under a covering of fig leaves, but under the robe of Christ’s righteousness.—The Upward Look, p. 378.