From everyone I’ve talked to, the afternoon block of meetings on Sunday is highly undesirable. Being right smack in the middle of the day gives me no time to really do anything! We used to belong to a ward that had its own building, so we set the block of meetings, year after year, at 10:30 in the morning; the perfect time. Growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to be celebrated, but sacrificing that perfect time on Sunday is causing us a little more sacrifice than maybe we intended. A common feeling might be: After giving Him three hours of our day, and after church is over, it belongs to us. When we have late church, it really cramps our day.

 

But wait! The Sabbath Day really belongs to the Lord anyway, if we give it to Him.

 

Attitudes aside, Elder Russell M. Nelson suggests that we think of the Sabbath as our tithing. “So it is our privilege to consecrate both money and time to Him who lends us life each day.” Many of us are actually able to pay our tithing “perfectly.” We pay it first, regularly, and we recognize the blessing that it is in our lives. But Elder Nelson tells us honoring the Sabbath can also become perfect in our lives as we cure our attitude to shortchange the Lord.

 

So, what happens to our day when we have early church as opposed to late church? Early church makes it a little hard to get up and in our seats on time. A flood of people can typically be seen coming through the doors after the Sacrament has been passed. But getting home around noon provides you with several hours to vegetate, play, hang out, or whatever you feel like doing the rest of the day.

 

Late church, interestingly enough will still include people walking in late. Somehow, the morning is spent waking up late, perhaps preparing a lesson, reading the newspaper, or catching up on social media. Somehow the hours fly by, typically wasted, and then it’s church for three hours. By the time you get home the day is all but over.

 

Besides the many conference talks on keeping the Sabbath day holy, we have entire chapters of scripture dedicated to teaching us of its importance: Exodus 35, D&C 59. It was very important at one time. The Israelites were given a double load of manna, just so they wouldn’t have to worry about food on Sunday. What does that say about our eagerness to get church over with to enjoy the rest of the day?

 

Well, okay. With my late schedule, this is what I’m going to try to do with my day. Since I feel like there is no time to do Family History work during the week, I’m really going to make an effort to work on something. I have pictures to go through and upload onto FamilySearch and I need to figure out how to research better online. It really is unbelievable what you can find online now. For years, I have wanted to go to Washington State to look up someone’s obituary, because I couldn’t request it online. The other day, I actually found the obituary through a genealogy site. It was pretty awesome after doing nothing but wishing for years.

 

I also decided it was a good day to read through conference addresses, both recent and past. I’m starting to really value what our prophets are telling us. I’ve always listened and desired to be obedient, but there is a certain depthness to my understanding and acceptance now that makes me eager to know, remember, and keep close to my heart.

 

Mostly, I guess I want to give the Lord what’s due Him. I have a lot to be grateful for and I still need His help in a lot of things. The least I can do is offer Him the Sabbath. It’s because of Him that I have anything at all, right?