One of my favorite talks in this last General Conference (October 2015) was by Elder Richard J Maynes of the presidency of the Seventy. He spoke about pottery and about how when the clay is not centered on the pottery wheel, it is impossible to properly form a pot . He then compared it to our lives. When we do not put Christ at the center of our lives, nothing will ever go quite right. Things will be off balance, and not be as beautiful as they could be. Elder Maynes said,
"The world in which we live is putting great pressure on good people everywhere to lower or even abandon their standards of righteous living. However, despite the evils and temptations that surround us each day, we can and will find true joy today in living a Christ-centered life. Centering our lives in Jesus Christ and His gospel will bring stability and happiness to our lives…"
He also said,
"If our lives are centered in Jesus Christ, He can successfully mold us into who we need to be in order to return to His and Heavenly Father’s presence in the celestial kingdom. The joy we experience in this life will be in direct proportion to how well our lives are centered on the teachings, example, and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ."
I believe that keeping the Sabbath Day Holy is a great way to keep Christ at the center of our lives. Think about it. 1 Day in 7 we can commit ourselves to spending in ways that are pleasing to the Lord. When we ask ourselves Russell M. Nelson's question of ,"What sign do I want to give to God?" we are focusing on Christ and keeping him at the center of our day and of our week to come and in doing so we will be blessed with that stability and happiness that we need….and eternal blessings after this life.
When a family has parents who are strong in the gospel, who are committed to keeping the commandments, they will have children whom they teach and nurture who grow up to be strong in the gospel. Those children will be sealed to spouses in the temple and have children whom they teach and nurture who grow up to be strong in the gospel…and the cycle continues…hopefully with each succeeding generation becoming stronger. And keeping the Sabbath day holy is one of the keys to having this happen in each of our families.
As mothers we have many things to do that take up much of our days every single day, and many of those things don't go away just because it is Sunday. People need to eat, diapers need to be changed, children will still get sick or hurt. But I am a firm believer in little things. I believe that little things add up to become great big awesome wonderful things. The little things we slip into our Sabbath to keep it more holy will have an influence on our own lives as well as those of our children. Week after week, year after year, making concerted efforts to keep the Sabbath in a way that would please Heavenly Father, will make a difference. And the blessings promised in D&C 59 will be ours:
D&C 59:9-20
9 And 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;
10 For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High;
11 Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times;
12 But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord.
13 And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thyfasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full.
14 Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer.
15 And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, not with muchlaughter, for this is sin, but with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance—
16 Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours
I bear testimony that keeping the Sabbath Day holy will bring us peace
Peace in our hearts, peace in our marriages, peace with our children and peace in our homes.
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