In the Book of Exodus, chapter twenty and verses eight through eleven, we read:
8. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
The Lord has given us six days in which to work, do our chores, and go play. He only asks one day of the week of us, a day to study the scriptures, attend church, write in our journals, and ponder the things of the spirit. It’s a tithing day, so to speak. It’s a portion of our time we give to Him.
In Primary, we’re taught to focus on all the things we can do rather than on the things we can’t. I’ve tried to take this lesson with me as I’ve grown into an adult, and I’ll confess (and have confessed) that I struggle with Sabbath worship. I believe I’ve narrowed down the problem, though—I’m a workaholic, and the idea of not working for an entire twenty-four hours is just hard for me.
However, where would I be without the Sabbath? How would I make it through the next week without that uplift and recharge? What would I do without my Sunday nap? I love my Sunday nap.
The scriptures tell us that the Sabbath is for man, and I understand that completely. If we charged straight through from Saturday to Monday, we might never relax and be in a position to feel the Spirit. Our stress levels would be much higher. We’d be exhausted.
But the most important reason for observing the Sabbath is to show the Lord our gratitude and respect. He has asked us for one day out of our whole week – just one seventh – to think about Him and His desires for us. When we properly observe the Sabbath, we are showing Him our appreciation in a clear and unmistakable way. I may really struggle when it comes to not working, but I do want to show the Lord my gratitude, and for that reason, I’ll keep trying.
Related Blogs:
Why Call Ye Me, Lord, Lord, and Do Not the Things Which I Say