If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath 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. Isaiah 58:1.
Great blessings are enfolded in the observance of the Sabbath and God desires that the Sabbath day shall be to us a day of joy. There was joy at the institution of the Sabbath.—Testimonies for the Church 6:349.
When the foundation of the earth was laid, the foundation of the Sabbath was laid also. When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy, God saw that a Sabbath was essential for man, even in Paradise. In giving the Sabbath, God considered man’s spiritual and physical health.—Testimonies to Ministers, 136.
The Sabbath is not intended to be a period of useless inactivity. The law forbids secular labor on the rest-day of the Lord; the toil that gains a livelihood must cease; no labor for worldly pleasure or profit is lawful upon that day; but as God ceased His labor of creating, and rested upon the Sabbath and blessed it, so man is to leave the occupations of his daily life, and devote those sacred hours to healthful rest, to worship, and to holy deeds.—The Desire of Ages, 207.
The Lord says, “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath from doing thy pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; ... then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.” To all who receive the Sabbath as a sign of Christ’s creative and redeeming power, it will be a delight. Seeing Christ in it, they delight themselves in Him.—The Desire of Ages, 288, 289.
From Radiant Religion - Page 331
Radiant Religion