Anyway, today I taught about why honoring the Sabbath Day was important. And it's something I have a testimony of. It's been a focus of the General Authorities for the past couple of years and so I have actually created a document with quotes about the Sabbath Day from conference. But there are a lot more quotes that I found for this lesson. In fact, I printed out a bunch of quotes and hung them all over the board for my lesson. Quotes like these:
"Our love for the Sabbath Day does not end when the chapel doors close behind us." --Elder Neil L. Andersen
"Life isn't calm or consistent, and we all face times that drain us of strength. Fatigue is a debilitating fact for all of us. We all get tired. This is why we all need sleep, we all need a break from our routines, we all need a vacation, however brief or inexpensive it might be. Certainly this is the reason God ordained a Sabbath." --Jeffrey R. Holland
"The way we keep the Sabbath day holy is an outward manifestation of our covenant to always remember Jesus Christ." --Larry M. Gibson
"For Latter-day Saints, the Sabbath is ... a day... of gratitude and love." President Eyring
"Keeping the Sabbath day holy is much more than just physical rest. It involves spiritual renewal and worship." --James E. Faust
"Faith in God engenders a love for the Sabbath; faith in the Sabbath engenders a love for God." --Russell M. Nelson
...and several others.
***
I began my lesson by talking about electronics. They are very useful tools. But what happens when you use your phone (or a tablet or laptop) for a long time? Slowly, the battery drains, and eventually the phone dies (shuts down). When that happens, what do you do? (charge it) You don’t just let it sit there fordays or weeks without charging it. So, too, our physical and spiritual batteries begin to drain after we work hard and don’t do things to recharge. Our Heavenly Father has given us a special day each week when we can recharge and become refreshed…the Sabbath Day. We call it a day of rest, and it should be a day to renew ourselves spiritually. We need this Sabbath Day!! If we don't use this day properly, we are no longer such useful tools for the Lord!
Elder Russell M. Nelson said, “What did the Savior mean when He said that “the sabbath was made for
man, and not man for the sabbath”?2 I believe He wanted us to understand that the Sabbath was His gift
to us, granting real respite from the rigors of daily life and an opportunity
for spiritual and physical renewal. God gave us this special day, not for
amusement or daily labor but for a rest from duty, with physical and spiritual
relief.”
So, I asked the girls, why do you think we should keep the Sabbath Day holy? They shared some ideas and thoughts.
We read D &C 59:9-13 and talked about the blessings that the Sabbath day gives us: keeps us unspotted from the world, allows us to pay our oblations to God, allows us to rest from our labors, brings us joy.
President James E. Faust said, ““Why has God
asked us to honor the Sabbath day? The reasons I think are at least threefold.
The first has to do with the physical need for rest and renewing. Obviously
God, who created us, would know more than we do of the limits of our physical
and nervous energy and strength. The second reason is, in my opinion, of far
greater significance. It has to do with the need for regeneration and the
strengthening of our spiritual being. God knows that left completely to our own
devices without regular reminders of our spiritual needs, many would degenerate
into the preoccupation of satisfying earthly desires and appetites. This need
for physical, mental, and spiritual regeneration is met in large measure by
faithful observance of the Sabbath day.
The third reason [for honoring the Sabbath day] may be the most
important of the three. It has to do with obedience to commandments as an
expression of our love for God. Blessed are those who need no reasons other
than their love for the Savior to keep his commandments.”
Then I shared this wonderful video of Elder Holland explaining the importance of the Sabbath day and urging the youth to consider what they could do to better honor the Sabbath. I then asked them to share any insights they received. Several shared things that stood out...especially that rather than thinking of all the things we can't do on Sunday, we should consider all that we CAN do.
I let them read the quotes on the board and asked which ones were meaningful to them.
Then I shared the following from a talk by Elder Groberg:
Elder Groberg described Tonga’s observance
of the Sabbath Day. They are right on
the international date line so they are the first nation to greet the Sabbath
Day. ON Sunday, all businesses shut
down. No planes or boats take off or
land. Nearly everyone goes to church. The island of Tonga is relatively poor in
material wealth, but they are rich in spiritual blessings…temple, church
buildings, great faith…
Elder Groberg said, “Does the Lord love and
bless those who keep the Sabbath day holy? I testify that he does in eternally
meaningful ways. I further testify that when we eventually see things through
the proper perspective of eternal truth, we will be amazed at how much we were
blessed in important—though often unperceived—ways through keeping the Sabbath
holy; and to our sorrow we may sense how many blessings we kept from ourselves
by not consistently keeping the Sabbath day holy.There is a direct correlation
between the proper observance of the Sabbath and true reverence for God, which
includes obedience to his other commandments.”
Elder Groberg: “Oh, my dear brothers and sisters, there is power in
keeping the Sabbath day holy—power to help others as well as ourselves. If we
would have God’s blessings and protection as individuals, as families, as
communities, and as nations, we must keep His Sabbath day holy.”
I prefer not to tell them what they should/shouldn't do on the Sabbath day, but as I was preparing, I kept having this feeling that I should encourage them to avoid homework on the Sabbath day. I'd read an article by John Hilton on the website red headed hostess that talks about avoiding homework and my first thought was that was not the direction I wanted to go at all. But as I studied and pondered and tried to determine what I should focus on, the thought kept coming that MY life was blessed because I determined not to do homework on Sunday and that I needed to share that with the YW. I don't know why it was so important that I share that, but I read a couple of quotes from apostles about not studying on Sunday and then bore my testimony of my own experiences in high school and college. I really do believe that my decision not to study on Sunday helped me both academically and spiritually!
President Monson said, “The Lord has given the Sabbath day for your
benefit and has commanded you to keep it holy. Many activities are appropriate
for the Sabbath. Bear in mind, however, that Sunday is not a holiday. Sunday is
a holy day.” We then talked about how holidays originally were holy days...but now most holidays have little or no religious significance...we no longer use them to focus on Jesus Christ (or at least the world around us doesn't.) I also shared something I read in a talk a few weeks ago (but that I couldn't find as I was finishing up preparing my lesson this week)...a man pointed out that in his grandfather's generation they referred to Sunday as "the holy Sabbath", in his father's generation people called it "Sunday" and today most people just refer to the "weekend." But for us, it should be the holy Sabbath, a day of worship, a day to show our love for our Father in Heaven.
I am so grateful for the blessings I receive for keeping the Sabbath Day holy. I love the Sabbath day!
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