In Defense of the Sabbath

"And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath."

-- Mark 2:27

The Law of the Sabbath is not one of those commandments I had much respect for as a child. Sunday was my least favorite day of the week: we had to be reverent, wear nice clothes and keep them clean, we couldn't play outside, and then there was the dreaded Quiet Time -- a mandatory two-hour span that we had to spend playing quietly in our rooms while my parents took a nap in theirs. At the time I thought they were the worst two hours of my week, and I thought my parents were awful for being so unfeeling as to impose them on me. Now I wish I could get my family to go back to Quiet Time.

I heard someone say something to this effect in a sacrament meeting one time: "Our great-grandparents called it the Holy Sabbath; our grandparents just the Sabbath. Our parents called it Sunday, and now we simply call it the weekend." We are becoming increasingly more casual about our Sabbath observance, and the effects are beginning to show. I love what Preach My Gospel says about keeping the Sabbath day holy, and the consequences of not doing so:

Our Sabbath-day behavior is a reflection of our commitment to honor and worship God. By keeping the Sabbath day holy, we show God our willingness to keep our covenants. ... When a community or nation grows careless in its Sabbath activities, its religious life decays and all aspects of life are negatively affected. The blessings associated with keeping the Sabbath day holy are lost. ... Latter-day Saints should set this holy day apart from activities of the world by entering into a spirit of worship, thanksgiving, service, and family-centered activities appropriate to the Sabbath. As Church members endeavor to make their Sabbath activities compatible with the intent and Spirit of the Lord, their lives will be filled with joy and peace.

I have definitely seen the truth of these statements in my own life. When I treat the Sabbath day as a sacred day of rest and dedicate it to renewing my covenants with my Heavenly Father and "recharging" my spiritual batteries, if you will, by setting aside "activities of the world" -- homework, my beloved Korean dramas, gossip, etc -- my week and my mood are so much better. I am much better equipped to handle the stress of juggling a job, college, and all the attendant difficulties. The Sabbath is a commandment from God, not because He likes to sit up in heaven and watch us chafe over all the things we "can't do", but because He knows that we need a break from the world and He loves us enough to bless us with one. I know that keeping the Sabbath day holy will bring tremendous blessings to your lives, and hope that in the coming weeks, you will search your heart and your life for ways you can do more to obtain them.