The Sabbath – A Day of Rest

I love the Sabbath Day; it really has become a delight to me. I have often wondered why the Sabbath Day is called a day of rest. As a bishop of a married student ward my day begins at 6 am when I get up and get ready for a day of meetings. My first meeting is at 7am, then it is sacrament meeting and the other ward block meetings. My afternoons are filled with leadership meetings and time spent in counseling with the members of the ward. I usually have some time to spend with my wife eating dinner before going to visit with members or other meetings in the evening. When I get home I may have time to read the scriptures or watch a talk from general conference before I go to bed and finally rest. There is not much time for rest for me or many others serving in the church; however, at the end of the Sabbath Day I feel invigorated and blessed to have served with the wonderful young couples in our ward. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I look forward to the Sabbath Day when I get to “rest” from my worldly labors and focus on the Savior and Heavenly Father’s children.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the best example of Sabbath observance. He did not spend his day sleeping, or lounging around the house. His Sabbath was spent teaching the people, healing the sick, visiting with his disciples and their families. Many times when he did go somewhere to find solitude, the multitudes found him, he did not send them away, he willingly ministered unto them and blessed them. He spent the Sabbath as he every day, serving his Father’s children. Most of us have to work to provide for ourselves and our families; so the Lord asks that we take one day each week to rest from those daily labors and to follow his example of going to the “house of prayer” or church, to partake of the sacrament, and to serve others.

In the ten commandments that the Lord Jehovah gave to the children of Israel, through his prophet Moses, he said “six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord” (Exodus 35:2). To his modern church the Lord said that in order for us to keep our selves unspotted from the world we are to go to the “house of prayer” and to “rest from your labors” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:9-10)

Alma, a Book of Mormon Prophet, taught:

But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;

Having faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his rest. (Alma 13:28-29)

Is there a difference between resting on the Sabbath and entering into the Lord’s rest? President Joseph F. Smith had this to say about what it means to enter into the rest of the Lord:

“What does it mean to enter into the rest of the Lord? Speaking for myself, it means that through the love of God I have been won over to Him, so that I can feel at rest in Christ, that I may no more be disturbed by every wind of doctrine, by the cunning and craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; and that I am established in the knowledge and testimony of Jesus Christ, so that no power can turn me aside from the straight and narrow path that leads back into the presence of God, to enjoy exaltation in His glorious kingdom; that from this time henceforth I shall enjoy that rest until I shall rest with Him in the heavens.” (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith, Chapter 48)

I believe that there are similarities between the two types of rest. The scriptures tell us that for us to remain unspotted from the world we are to rest on the Sabbath and go to the house of prayer. In other words, we are to take a break from our worldly pursuits and activities and attend our church meetings, renewing our covenants by partaking of the sacrament, and spending our day in service and worship. If we make Sabbath observance a habit, we will be more committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and will have the spirit to be with us always so we will not be deceived by worldly pleasures or doctrines of the devil. We will be firm in our testimonies and not lead astray. When we live lives like Christ we shall be at peace and at rest in him.

When we come to enjoy the Sabbath day in this light it will be a day of rest for us and we will enter into the Lord’s rest.

How To Know If You’re Breaking The Sabbath

By Greg Trimble

Today’s message is not mine, I read a great message from Greg Trimble with the title above and decided that he said it much better than I could so I am posting his blog here and hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did. I hope that if Greg finds this message somehow that he is ok with me quoting his message. Improving our Sabbath experience has been the topic of many general conference addresses over the years and especially this past year with several training sessions that the general authorities have sent to the stakes and wards. I am going to quote from Greg’s blog for the first few paragraphs and hopefully get you hooked enough to go to his web site to finish the complete message. The rest of this is his words, not mine. Here is the link to his blog. Greg says:

“Have you ever looked forward to a general conference because you were certain in your mind that the apostles were going to address some of the crazy issues that are taking place in the world? “There’s got to be some big announcement this time” we might say. “Maybe this is the year we’ll be asked to ‘flee to Zion,'” you might think. But then they talk about something like “Sabbath Day observance” and we tune out because “we’ve heard this all before”…right?”

“Over the last year, the world seems to be crumbling in every way imaginable…and yet all we seem to hear about is the Sabbath? I’ve been curious to know why.”

“As the Sabbath has been talked about with greater intensity, I’ve noticed quite a few people online say that they’re sick of hearing about it. For me personally…it’s generally the things I’m not doing so well with that I get sick of hearing about. “The guilty taketh the truth to be hard for it cutteth them to the very center.” I’ve been there…especially when it comes to the Sabbath.

The other reason people might get sick of hearing about the Sabbath is because of a lack of understanding. With that lack of understanding comes an associated lack of importance. If a person doesn’t truly understand the “why” of the Sabbath, then it just becomes a day of guilt, confusion, and boredom.”

“It’s hard for the Sabbath day to become a “delight” when you never know if what you’re doing is right. (Did you like that rhyme?)

“When I hear someone give their Sabbath Kumbayah stories about how everyone sits in a circle on Sunday and reads scriptures all day after singing hymns together, sometimes it feels hard to measure up. Honestly, it just doesn’t seem like reality.”

“Maybe I’m weird, and my thinking was off, but over the years, I’ve felt like all I could do on the Sabbath was eat, drink, sleep, read scriptures, pray, and go to church. This was because I was supposed to be “resting” from my labors and making the day “holy.”

“It also seemed to me like the most prevalent description of Sabbath Day activities from others was that of “sleeping” or “napping” after church. But I hate sleeping during the day, so that just doesn’t work for me. If I sleep all day Sunday…I feel horrible. It ruins my sleep pattern and I can’t go to sleep Sunday night, making Monday morning dreadful, setting me up for a brutal work week. I feel much better if I go for a walk or a hike outside in the sun/wind/rain anything that involves nature.”

“Am I making the day less holy by taking a hike instead of being conked out on the couch all day “resting?” Some might say that I am.”

“For me personally, I’ve spent many a Sunday after church in my parents backyard shooting baskets with my dad before dinner with the family. My mom would come outside and talk some trash to my dad when he missed his shots or just to jump into the conversation. It was so much fun and I always looked forward to those times. We might play horse…or around the world, or just stand there holding the ball under our arm for hours. We’d sit as a family in our backyard chairs talking about things we never had time to talk about during the week. During the week, we were too busy with our own things. My parents were working, I was playing on multiple sports teams and hanging out with friends. Honestly…I feel like the work week separated us. Every day takes us further away from each other. The Sabbath brings us back together. And it can be “delightful” if done in the right spirit.”

“This may seem sacrilegious to ask…but would I be a better person today, or have a better relationship with my mom or dad if they left me by myself and were inside on the recliner sleeping or reading their scriptures all day? I mean…no one would ever fault them for “reading scriptures all day” would they? But surely people would fault them for bouncing that ball or firing up the BBQ outside…while not in their church clothes.”

“Fast forward 20 years and I have kids of my own that are shaping their own perceptions of the Sabbath.”

Greg’s continues and he has some good ideas on what it means to make the Sabbath a delight and keep it holy. I hope that you will read the rest of “How To Know If You’re Breaking The Sabbath”.

Your comments and questions are welcome.