This past week for the Come, Follow Me Study we read the scriptures in Doctrine and Covenants 59:9-19 about keeping the Sabbath Day holy. I love that in this section we are given a great promise. God tells us that if we keep the Sabbath Day holy by attending our church meetings, remembering our covenants, and keeping ourselves separate and unspotted from the world, we are promised a HUGE promise.

What is this huge promise? It is that the fulness of the earth will be ours. What does this mean? It means we will have everything we need. We will have things we need and things that please us. I just love this! I remember one of my BYU religion professors rejoicing in this scripture, saying that it includes chocolate cake, for what else pleases the eye, gladdens the heart, for taste and smell, more than chocolate cake? Nothing, in his book!

God describes the promise much better than I can so I will quote his promise here, from Doctrine and Covenants 59:16-19:

“Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth; Yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards; Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul.”

I just love that! What an amazing promise!

I know sometimes it is tempting to work 7 days a week so you can make more money than you would if you worked fewer than 7 days a week. Here’s a story, “Not Open on Sunday!” about a married couple who found out that they could make more joy if they had their drive-in restaurant open 6 days a week instead of 7. They had much fewer sales ($17K) but only $10 less profit when they closed on the Sabbath. By contrast, they had a whole bunch of headaches, stress, and health problems being open 7 days a week. That’s God’s math for you! I love the conclusion of the story:

“When I think of the poor effect on my health and all the work I did for nothing on those Sundays, I am surprised it took me as long to learn the lesson that obedience to the law of the Sabbath carries its own reward. The Sabbath is the Lord’s day. We will all be blessed for honoring it.”