True to the Faith: Sabbath

The Sabbath is the Lord’s day, set apart each week for

rest and worship. In Old Testament times, God’s covenant

people observed the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week

because God rested on the seventh day when He had created

the earth. The Lord emphasized the importance of Sabbath

observance in the Ten Commandments:

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

“Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

“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:

“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” (Exodus

20:8–11).

After the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which occurred on

the first day of the week, the Lord’s disciples began observing

the Sabbath on the first day of the week, Sunday (see Acts

20:7).

In the latter days, the Lord has commanded us to continue

observing the Sabbath. He has promised that if we obey

this commandment, we will receive “the fulness of the earth”

(see D&C 59:16–20).

Because the Sabbath is a holy day, it should be reserved

for worthy and holy activities. Abstaining from work and

recreation is not enough. In fact, if we merely lounge about

doing nothing on the Sabbath, we fail to keep the day holy. In

a revelation given to Joseph Smith in 1831, the Lord commanded:

“That thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted

from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and

offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; for verily this is

a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to

pay thy devotions unto the Most High” (D&C 59:9–10). In

harmony with this revelation, we attend sacrament meeting

each week. Other Sabbath-day activities may include praying,

meditating, studying the scriptures and the teachings of

latter-day prophets, writing letters to family members and

friends, reading wholesome material, visiting the sick and

distressed, and attending other Church meetings.

Additional references: Exodus 31:16–17; Mosiah 18:23; D&C 59:11–14; 68:29