Recently Church leaders have called for better observance of the Sabbath. See, for example, articles here, here, and here.
Rod Dreher, prominent American author, blogger, and editor has picked up on a Deseret News survey on the decline in Sabbath observance. The survey concludes that fewer people pay attention to the Sabbath than used to be the case, but a majority of Americans still value it, either for themselves or for society as a whole.
Mr. Dreher observes that the decline in keeping the Sabbath is “part of the de-Christianization of America...Sabbath observance, including gathering for prayer and worship, has been at the core of Christianity since the beginning. You begin by neglecting the Sabbath, and you end by losing your faith (or your kids do)...If we no longer keep going to church as at the center of Sabbath observance, we...will erase the memory of Christianity from [ourselves] and [our] family."
While speaking to a largely Christian audience, he invited Jewish readers to comment. One person wrote, “There is an old saying that because the Jews kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath kept the Jews.”
You can read the whole blog post and over 100 comments here.
Keeping the Sabbath is a way of giving to God the “first fruits” of our time. It means doing something positive with the day.
As Church President Spencer W. Kimball wrote, “The Sabbath calls for constructive thoughts and acts, and if one merely lounges about doing nothing on the Sabbath, he is breaking it. To observe it, one will be on his knees in prayer, preparing lessons, studying the gospel, meditating, visiting the ill and distressed, sleeping, reading wholesome material, and attending all the meetings of that day to which he is expected.”