Sabbath Devotional: The Gift of Rest

I know I’m not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but sometimes I judge a book by its title. That was why I picked up a book called “The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath” by Joseph Lieberman. It was a wonderful book describing the way Senator Lieberman, who was Jewish, observed the Sabbath.

I’m still particularly drawn to the title: The Gift of Rest.

Rest is a gift. It’s a gift to body, mind, and heart. Our Heavenly Parents knew this was a gift that we would need to thrive in mortality. The Genesis account of the Creation concludes:

“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” (Genesis 2:2-3)

God blessed and sanctified the seventh day as a time to rest.

When we lived in New York, our stake president said, “We live in a culture of stress.” That seemed especially appropriate for the busy and stressful lifestyle in that area. We now live in a rural area on the Utah/Idaho border. The lifestyle is very different, but busyness and the resulting stress are a major part of the culture here, too.

It’s not just busyness that creates a culture of stress for us. We are surrounded by conflict and contempt, political uncertainty, extreme weather events and conditions, and a rise in certain infectious diseases. We live in a time of wars and rumors of wars, where distrust of government, media, and each other runs rampant.

It is all overwhelming. And exhausting.

I regularly see ideas on how to avoid burnout, but sometimes it is easy to overlook the obvious answer: the blessed and sanctified gift of rest. We might overlook it because “keeping the Sabbath day holy” can feel burdensome. This phrase — the gift of rest — has changed my own appreciation of the Sabbath.

One particular blessing of Sabbath worship is described in the Doctrine and Covenants: “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; 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)

This is the blessing I see: “more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world.” I believe that setting aside the Sabbath as a time to rest from the world and devote my energies to God can keep me more unspotted from the world, separating me from the overwhelming stress of mortality and gifting me more discernment to separate truth from error, more peace, more clarity, more love for others, and a deeper trust in God.

These gifts are rejuvenating. I can reenter the week each Monday with a fresh perspective, motivated to do good and make a difference. I am sincerely grateful each week for the gift of rest.

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Image: Devotion, by Piet Mondrian, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Megan Rawlins Woods is the nonpartisan root senior director at Mormon Women for Ethical Government.