Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

Last month I convinced myself that I needed to go to the store on Sunday. I know...I should be better at not doing that sort of thing but I wasn't and I had a very humbling experience. As I was leaving with a cart load of "essentials" the missionaries(who knew they worked Albertson's parking lot???) came walking up to me.

They started with the usual introduction; Hi, we're missionaries of the....Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?(a... well. I'm a Temple worker and I teach the Gospel Doctrine class). I was mortified. I stumbled on with something about the ox in the mire, compounding my sin with another sin (lying). I swore I'd never, ever, shop again on Sunday. I'd like to say I've kept that promise....

Today I was talking with my brother about the topic. I realized I needed to gain a testimony about this principle. So I did a little research and came up with the following.

And who knew? There are some pretty awesome blessings for those who choose to keep the sabbath day holy.

How Do We Keep the Sabbath Day Holy?

The Lord asks us, first, to sanctify the Sabbath day. In a revelation given to Joseph Smith in 1831, the Lord commanded the Saints to go to the house of prayer and offer up their sacraments, rest from their labors, and pay their devotions to the Most High (see D&C 59:9–12).

Second, he asks us to rest from daily work. This means we should perform no labor that would keep us from giving our full attention to spiritual matters. The Lord told the Israelites, “Thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle” (Exodus 20:10). Our prophets have told us that we should not shop, hunt, fish, attend sports events, or participate in similar activities on that day.

Elder Spencer W. Kimball cautioned, however, that if we merely lounge about doing nothing on the Sabbath, we are not keeping the day holy. The Sabbath calls for constructive thoughts and acts. (See The Miracle of Forgiveness, pp. 96–97.)

What kinds of things may we do on the Sabbath?

The Lord has told us to prepare only simple foods on that day, keeping the purpose of the Sabbath in mind (see D&C 59:13). The prophet Isaiah suggested that we should turn away from doing our own pleasure and should “call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable” (Isaiah 58:13). We should do righteous things. We keep the Sabbath day holy by—

1. Attending Church meetings.
2. Reading the scriptures and the words of our Church leaders.
3. Visiting the sick, the aged, and our loved ones.
4. Listening to uplifting music and singing hymns.
5. Praying to our Heavenly Father with praise and thanksgiving.
6. Performing Church service that we have been assigned to do.
7. Preparing family history records and personal histories.
8. Telling faith-promoting stories and bearing our testimony to family members and sharing spiritual experiences with them.
9. Writing letters to loved ones.
10. Fasting with a purpose.
11. Sharing time with children and others in the home.
In deciding what other activities we should properly engage in on the Sabbath, we should ask ourselves: Will it uplift and inspire me?
There may be times when we are required to work on the Sabbath. We should avoid this whenever possible, but when it is absolutely necessary, we should still maintain the spirit of Sabbath worship in our hearts as much as possible.

Blessings for Observing the Sabbath

If we honor the Sabbath day, we may receive great spiritual and temporal blessings. The Lord has said that if we keep the Sabbath day with thanksgiving and cheerful hearts, we will be full of joy. He has promised:
“The fulness of the earth is yours, … whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards;
“Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart;
“Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul” (D&C 59:16–19).