The Atlanta Journal Constitution ran an interesting article in its February 6 Faith and Values section titled Pulpit Temptations. The story was about ministers who are guilty of various failures in their personal lives. The general public is aware of many of these individuals and we rejoice that some of them have confessed their sins and forgiveness has been experienced.

On the same page there was another article about Billy Graham. Randall Balmer, a professor of American religious history at Columbia University, was quoted as saying of Dr. Graham: "He is a person of integrity. He doesn't want to fulfill any other purpose than bringing people to Jesus."

This started me thinking about Jesus and the Lord's day. The cross upon which Jesus died has become the symbol of Christianity, a symbol pictured on canvas and in stained glass, a symbol erected on the spires and gables of our churches; a symbol which has represented the deepest truths of Christianity throughout the last twenty centuries.

Why? Because the message of Calvary is that on the day Jesus hung between heaven and earth, He took upon Himself the sins of all mankind. He paid for those sins with His blood.

Throughout the centuries, whenever a person has been captivated by Christ on the cross and has accepted His forgiveness, life for him or her has never been the same.

However, it did not end at Calvary. As the Apostle Paul writes, without the resurrection we are of all people most miserable. (1 Cor. 15:19b) That means we are without hope. This is what makes The Lord's Day so important. It is the time we remember the cross and our salvation and it is the time we celebrate the resurrection which proves without doubt that Jesus is Lord and the author and finisher of our faith. (Heb. 12:31) The Jews of Jesus' day were fanatical about the Sabbath. Yet thousands of Jews who became Christians abandoned their holy day and took another day, the first day of the week, as their day of worship. (1 Cor. 16:2) Only one fact caused that change, the fact that on the first day of the week Jesus rose from the dead.

While we emphasize the importance of keeping the day as a special day, we must always remember it is because of Jesus, Our Lord and Saviour.