How We Found Sabbath

I love God with all that I am. I want to obey Him the best I can, exactly how He says, because of what He has done for me. The Bible teaches that salvation is a gift received by grace through faith. We cannot work for it, earn it, or add to it. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God — but praise God, Jesus came and removed the penalty of sin.

Yet, Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” So, we should seek to obey God’s Word. When we accept the gift of salvation, we also allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us to transform us to live the way God intended us to, with Jesus as our example. 

I grew up attending church, and I praise God for wonderful parents who faithfully took me to church whenever doors were open. However, I cannot say I ever felt “rested” when I attended on Sundays. We worked all week, including Sundays, when in the morning we would prepare a big lunch. We would then attend the worship service, afterward returning to complete household chores to prepare for the week ahead, before rushing back to church for the evening service. Deep down, I always felt like something was missing, but I never knew what — until God showed me the Sabbath. And now, I can tell my life has changed!

In July 2022, my husband and I randomly came across a documentary series called The Days of Noah. This series mentioned the Sabbath as being the seventh day. It also recalled the attempts to change God’s Sabbath throughout history. I learned that God placed His own seal on His seventh-day Sabbath and was also reminded that God instituted this day of rest before sin came to earth.

For the next few weeks, I prayed and studied. I was heavily involved in my church, and my lack of attendance was immediately noticed. I remember saying to God that habits are hard to break, and if I was to honor God’s Sabbath, I would need Him to help break me of Sunday attendance. Then, the next three Sundays, each of our kids took turns with a one-day illness that involved heavy vomiting. This was an answer to prayer that gave me three weeks to study my Bible and search online for a Sabbath-keeping church. It was then that I found the Houston Seventh-day Adventist Church. 

Toward the end of August, I had an opportunity to visit this church myself and see how they “measured up” to my old church (which I loved). I immediately felt welcomed and loved as I was warmly greeted at the door with a “Happy Sabbath!” and offered a worship program. During Bible study, I was also amazed at how well the adults knew the Bible. What touched my heart most was the love these people had for God and each other. They studied the Bible in spirit and truth, touching on aspects of the gospel accurately. 

The following week my husband attended with me and had the same observations. The service reverenced God in ways we had never experienced before. Our children enjoyed their classes and didn’t even need us to stay with them. The teachers made them feel right at home, and they made friends quickly. All our children commented it felt like God had led us to this church. For our whole family, the Sabbath was delightful and finally felt restful! 

We have learned so much this past year, and God continues to show us more aspects of His amazing love for us. I am thankful we found a church who teaches full biblical truth. 

The original version of this story was posted by the Mid-America Union Conference Outlook.