Nevertheless, if God himself had said nothing about it, it would have been the duty of man, the rational creature of God, and indebted to God for so many blessings—for so many noble powers and faculties, to have set apart some portion of the time which God gave him to the especial honour of the bountiful Giver—to have employed that time solely in thanking him for his precious gifts and his gracious providence—in meditating upon his glorious perfections and his marvellous works—and in serving and worshipping him by all other means, with such peculiar, extraordinary tokens of love, and gratitude, and veneration, as would not have been possible, or not suitable, at every time, and in every place; but only at the appointed time, and in some appointed place. This, I say, would have been the duty of man, if left entirely to the use of his own reason. But no individual _could_ have determined for himself, and still less were all men likely to agree with each other, what the portion of time to be set apart for this purpose should be; how much the beneficent Author of their being, and of all their enjoyments, would expect of them to consecrate to him; and how often the consecrated time should return, so as to please God, and draw down from above his further blessings upon them. This, then, which _we_ should have been quite unable to decide for ourselves, God has decided for us. He has himself, in his infinite wisdom, determined what is fit and proper both for _us_ and for _him_. He has not put us under the necessity of reasoning upon so important a matter at all; from the very beginning He appointed it for an everlasting law, that the portion of time to be dedicated to his especial service and worship should be one day out of every seven days: that six successive days should be _ours_ for labour of body and of mind, and for all the needful business of this present life; that the seventh day should be _his_, for a holy rest unto the Lord—for celebrating his wondrous works—and for a more quiet, undisturbed consideration of our own immortal concerns, and all the spiritual business of the life which is to come hereafter.