The Sabbath Day

The Sabbath day is a commandment from God and a gift He has given for our good. From the beginning, the Lord established a pattern of six days for labor and one day for rest. During the week we work, provide, learn, build, solve problems, carry responsibilities, and deal with the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual demands of mortal life. The Sabbath interrupts that cycle and gives us one day to return to Christ, rest, and strengthen the relationships God has given us.

Jesus Christ taught that “the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27). God does command us to worship Him on the Sabbath, but He did not create the day because He needed worship from us. He created it because we need what the Sabbath provides. We need a regular day to remember Him, hear Him, obey Him, recover from the week, and prepare ourselves for the labor that will begin again.

Every member of this church is required to keep the Sabbath day holy through four things:

1. Gather with the Church and partake of the sacrament.
2. Worship the Lord personally by seeking His will and obeying Him.
3. Rest from the labor and burdens of the week.
4. Spend meaningful and unhurried time with family.

These four pillars must remain in balance. If all you do is attend meetings and perform church responsibilities all day, you have gone beyond the mark and left no room for rest, personal worship, or family. If all you do is study, pray, and write all day, you have neglected the other purposes of the Sabbath. If all you do is sleep, rest has become idleness. If all you do is spend time with family, then family has displaced the Lord. Balance does not mean dividing the day into four equal parts, but it does mean that none of these four purposes should be continually neglected.

The Sacrament and Gathering With the Church

The first pillar is gathering with the Church and partaking of the sacrament. The sacrament is not only the few minutes in which bread and water are blessed and passed. It belongs to the larger gathering of the Saints. Moroni taught that the Church met together “to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls,” and that they also met to partake of the bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus Christ (Moroni 6:5–6).

This is why church attendance is part of Sabbath obedience. We gather to pray together, sing together, teach and hear the word of God, bear testimony, speak concerning the welfare of our souls, and partake of the sacrament in remembrance of Christ. On appointed fast Sabbaths, fasting and united prayer are also part of that worship. The Church is not merely a place where we receive information. It is the gathered body of Christ strengthening itself through faith, testimony, repentance, instruction, fellowship, and covenant renewal.

Members are therefore required to attend the appointed Sabbath meeting unless illness, emergency, necessary caregiving, travel, or another legitimate circumstance prevents it. We do not replace gathering with the Saints by privately deciding that we can remember Christ just as well by ourselves. God established a church because disciples need one another, and the Sabbath is the appointed time for that body to gather.

The sacrament itself is to be received worthily and deliberately. We remember the body and blood of Jesus Christ, His sacrifice for us, the covenants we have made, and the life we have chosen to live because of Him. We examine ourselves, repent, and renew our determination to take His name upon us, remember Him, and keep His commandments.

I promise you that if you will faithfully gather with the Church, worthily partake of the sacrament, and participate in the fasting, prayer, testimony, teaching, and fellowship of the Saints, you will be spiritually strengthened and more fully kept unspotted from the world. The Spirit will be with you in greater measure, your faith will be strengthened by the faith of others, and you will be reminded every week who you are and whom you serve. The world will have less power to define your thoughts and priorities because you will continually return to Jesus Christ and renew your covenant to follow Him.

Worship by Seeking and Obeying the Lord

The second pillar is personal worship. Every Sabbath should contain personal time in which you deliberately seek the Lord, ask what He would have you learn or do, listen for His direction, and then obey what He gives you.

Worship is not merely singing hymns, speaking words of praise, reading about God, or admiring Him. Those things can be part of worship, but worship is incomplete when a person praises God and then refuses to do what He says. Jesus Christ taught, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). One of the clearest ways we worship God is by putting His will above our own.

For this reason, personal Sabbath worship should be directed by the Spirit rather than reduced to a rigid checklist. The Lord may impress you to read a particular scripture, study a doctrine, write something, pray about a decision, repent of something, call someone, apologize, serve, teach, encourage, or help a person who has been placed upon your mind. Sometimes He may simply have you sit quietly before Him until your heart is settled and you can hear Him more clearly.

When He gives direction, worship continues through obedience. If He tells you to read, read. If He tells you to write, write. If He tells you to call someone, call them. If He tells you to repent, repent. If He tells you to serve, serve. Receiving revelation and then doing nothing with it is not the kind of worship God requires from His covenant people.

The Lord has promised, “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:63). The Sabbath gives us room to do that deliberately. The ordinary noise of work, errands, projects, deadlines, entertainment, and responsibility is reduced so that we can turn our attention more fully toward Him.

I promise you that if you will use the Sabbath to sincerely seek the Lord and then obey what He tells you to do, you will hear Him more clearly and recognize His voice more easily. Your understanding of the scriptures will open, the Spirit will teach your heart and mind, and you will receive greater understanding concerning what the Lord intends for your life. You will also become stronger at obeying Him during the rest of the week because every Sabbath you will have practiced placing His will above your own.

Rest From the Labor and Burdens of the Week

The third pillar is rest, and this is one of the central purposes of the Sabbath day. The Lord commanded, “Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest,” and He explained that this rest was given so His people could “be refreshed” (Exodus 23:12). Doctrine and Covenants 59 likewise calls the Sabbath “a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:10).

Rest is therefore obedience. The Sabbath is not supposed to become another workday filled with projects, errands, shopping, unnecessary cleaning, long trips, appointments, or a constant effort to remain productive. It is also not supposed to become an exhausting religious workday in which every free hour is filled with another meeting, assignment, lesson, study project, or church responsibility. Good things can go beyond the mark when they leave no room for the rest God commanded.

Necessary work remains necessary. Children still need to be fed and cared for. Animals may need attention. Emergencies happen, and people in need may require help. Jesus Christ taught that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. These things do not change the ordinary rule that unnecessary labor is to be set aside so the body, mind, emotions, and spirit can recover.

It is acceptable to sit down and do nothing for a while. It is acceptable to take a nap, read something peaceful, lie down, think, or enjoy a quiet afternoon without feeling guilty because every hour was not productive. The Sabbath is a mandatory day of rest, not a day in which a person must continually prove that they are doing something religious.

This rest must also reach the mind and emotions. A person can sit still physically while continuing to carry work problems, financial fears, unfinished projects, arguments, notifications, news, and anxiety through the entire day. As much as possible, those burdens need to be put down. The Sabbath is a protected period in which the pressures of the week are not given uninterrupted access to the soul.

I promise you that if you will truly rest on the Sabbath and stop treating all seven days as days of labor, you will have greater strength for the six days that follow. Your mind will become clearer, your body will be better rested, your patience will increase, and the anxiety and pressure that have worn upon you will be replaced with greater peace and inner strength. You will be better able to face trials, make righteous decisions, and accomplish the work God has given you because you will have received the weekly renewal He designed for you.

Family Time and Strengthening Relationships

The fourth pillar is family time. This is not something we do only if there happens to be time left after the more religious parts of the day are finished. Our families are among the greatest stewardships God has given us, and the Sabbath provides protected time in which those relationships can be strengthened without the normal pressure of work and daily responsibility.

During the week, families can easily become people who live in the same house while constantly moving in different directions. Parents work, children study, responsibilities pile up, meals become hurried, and devices, chores, appointments, school, and fatigue compete for attention. Important conversations are repeatedly postponed because there is always something else that needs to be done.

The Sabbath interrupts that pattern. Family time should be simple, peaceful, and restful rather than another schedule of activity. Sit together. Talk. Listen. Eat together. Play a quiet game. Watch something wholesome together. Let your children tell you what is happening in their lives and listen long enough to understand what they are actually saying. Spend time with your spouse without every conversation being about responsibilities or problems that need to be solved.

This also includes extended family. Call a parent or grandparent. Speak with a brother or sister you have not heard from in a while. Let grandchildren hear the testimony of their grandparents. Ask family members how they are doing, hear about their lives, rejoice with them, comfort them, and strengthen them. Family relationships weaken when they are continually postponed, and the Sabbath gives us a regular opportunity to preserve them.

Family time should also make room for Christ without turning every conversation into a formal lesson. Bear testimony when it is natural. Talk about what the Lord has been teaching you. Ask your spouse what they have been feeling and your children what they have been praying about. Let faith become part of normal family conversation so that Christ is not spoken of only in meetings and lessons.

I promise you that if you will give meaningful and unhurried Sabbath time to your family, your relationships will become stronger and peaceful. Spouses will reconnect, broken relationships will be healed, parents will understand their children better, children will feel more known and loved, and extended family relationships will be preserved. Where relationships have been strained, these repeated opportunities to talk, listen, forgive, testify, serve, and love one another will bring healing and unity.

Testimony

I bear my testimony that the Sabbath day is a commandment from God and that these four pillars are necessary to keep it as He intended. Gather with the Church and partake of the sacrament, seek the Lord personally and obey what He tells you to do, rest from the labor and burdens of the week, and spend meaningful time strengthening your family. Keep these things in balance and do not allow one good part of the Sabbath to consume the others.

I promise you that if you will be obedient to this law, you will receive the blessings God has placed within it. You will be spiritually strengthened and better protected from the influence of the world, you will hear the Lord more clearly and understand His word more deeply, you will receive greater peace and strength to face the labor and trials of the coming week, and your family relationships will become stronger, more connected, and capable of healing. You will grow in gratitude, become more aware of the Lord’s hand in your life, and develop a greater desire to remain near Him.

These are not empty promises. The Lord gave the Sabbath for our good, and He has attached blessings to obedience. If you will keep this day holy in the manner He has commanded, He will refresh you, strengthen you, teach you, draw near unto you, bless your home, and give you greater peace in this world as you continue preparing for eternal life in the world to come.

I bear this testimony and make this promise in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.