Elder Perry gave a great talk about how keeping the sabbath day holy can help us prepare to take the sacrament. As part of this he talked about teaching our children to be an example of the believers by keeping the sabbath day holy. God commanded us to "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy."
Elder Perry says...
"It is remarkable that even through the dark periods of apostasy, this pattern of Sabbath day worship and the sacrament continued to be practiced in many forms."
I thought this was very interesting and true. Churches of all forms have continually through the ages had some sort of sacrament. He says partaking of the sacrament is the center of our sabbath day observance. There are three things the Lord requires of us.
1. To keep ourselves unspotted from the world.
We hear this a lot and I've often wondered what all that entails. Elder Perry says the Lord expects us to avoid such worldly distractions of business and recreational facilities, and to dress appropriately. Regarding dressing appropriately he says,
"When Sunday dress deteriorates to everyday attire, attitudes and actions follow."
I'd never thought of it quite like that before, but it is absolutely true. We behave how we are dressed and how we dress can contribute to preparing to take the sacrament. We kind of did a double take when we heard: "it may not be necessary for our children to wear formal Sunday attire until the sun goes down." I'm usually the first to get my comfy clothes on after church and the kids are quick to follow suit. I'm going to try to be better at keeping my dress on for the whole day, not because I feel guilty that I don't, but to serve as a reminder of the importance of keeping the sabbath day holy and to help give my children this same reminder.
2. To go to the house of prayer and offer up our sacraments.
My husband and I had quite a discussion about this one. What does it mean "offer up your sacraments"? {I'd love any thoughts on this!} Elder Perry says we need to confess and forsake our sins. "The sabbath provides us with precious opportunity to offer up these - our sacraments - to the Lord." So I think to "offer up your sacraments" is kinda like offering up your sins to the Lord and asking for forgiveness.
3. To rest from our labors.
Labor includes the everyday work of our of our lives. So my question is, can I stop cooking and doing dishes on the sabbath? :) I recently gave a lesson to my valiant girls on keeping the sabbath day holy and we talked about certain things that are necessary to do on the sabbath. Food preparation, bathing. So the every day work of our lives are things that can be done on other days of the week like shopping, cleaning the house, and laundry.
I try really hard not to judge people. It is hard not to do when you see someone who you think is a good member of the church and is not keeping the sabbath day holy. Everyone who reads the bible should be keeping the sabbath day holy. I know everyone interprets everything a little differently, but I think this is something the Lord was very specific on. Keep the sabbath day holy. Rest from your labors. And allow others to do the same.
Probably the most thought provoking sentence in this whole talk is...
"The adversary succeeds when we relax our commitment to the Savior."
Not keeping the sabbath day holy is just one small way that we can relax our commitment. That one line alone is probably the biggest reason why I'm not rushing home to my pjs. I don't want the adversary to succeed. I don't want him to have power over my life or my family. Keeping the sabbath day holy is just a small thing that we can do to honor our commitment to our Savior.
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