Several years ago the Delaware River was considered one of the filthiest, polluted rivers in America, reeking with raw sewage and poisonous industrial waste, defiling all boats and barges using its wastewater to navigate. Just as waterways can be polluted, our minds can be polluted with harmful thoughts contaminated with mainstream media and entertainment. God has the prerogative of making something holy as He sanctified the Sabbath (Genesis 2: 2-3), the venue from which He could sanctify His people, making them holy as He is (Exodus 31:17-21). The Sabbath is holy because God made it holy with His presence. For Sabbath breaking and idolatry, Judah and Israel went into captivity. The Pharisees were so alarmed, they went overboard concocting all kinds of burdensome rules that had nothing to do with the Sabbath, including healing on the Sabbath or eating grain on the Sabbath. Also, priests work harder on the Sabbath than any other day. Far from the acceptable practice of relieving others' burdens, polluting and profaning God's Sabbath is to allow the distractions of the world to prevent us from calling the Sabbath a delight (Isaiah 58:13-14). In both the weekly Sabbath and the annual Day of Atonement sabbath, we are admonished to do no work. If we are not careful, the pollution of the world can defile us just as the Delaware River was once clogged with sewage and industrial waste. Thankfully, the Delaware River, because of decades of environmental regulation, has been restored to a source from where 15 million people now get pure drinking water. Likewise, we have been restored because of God's weekly Sabbath in which they can be washed by the Word of God. As priests in training, we must use this time to remove pollutants which have defiled us.