The Sabbath is really all about love—love for the Creator and love for others—and all love relationships need quality time in order to survive, right?

So it makes sense that family should factor in as a very important part of the Sabbath. The restful nature of this day creates the perfect framework to reconnect with loved ones. Families can worship together, enjoy the beauty and wonder of God’s creation as a family unit, and support each other in finding ways to help others on the Sabbath.

Here are some great ways you can celebrate the Sabbath with your family:

• Go to church; worshiping together produces vital strength in your relationship with God and with each other.

• Surprise a church visitor or two with a warm invitation to join you for dinner.

• Study the Bible together in ways that involve the whole family. Take turns reading a few verses, and then discuss them together and let each person express what those verses mean to them. If you have very young kids, read from a children’s Bible so they can understand.

• Pray together as a family, and let each person add a thought or two to the prayer based on their own needs and thankfulness.

• Get outside and enjoy nature! On Friday nights, get behind a telescope or binoculars and take in God’s magnificent universe. After church, go to a park and enjoy a picnic. On Sabbath afternoons, find a walkway, or enjoy the wonders of creation right in your own backyard. Go for a hike, watch birds and animals, or collect rocks, wildflowers, or leaves.

• Listen to age-appropriate inspirational music together. If you play an instrument, why not “make a joyful noise” to the Lord?

• Write a note of encouragement to a sick or elderly person, or go to visit the elderly in nursing homes.

• Visit friends or church members who are in the hospital or stuck at home. Cheer them up and pray with them.

• Keep a notebook and start listing all the things your family is thankful for. Give everyone a chance to contribute to the list.

• Hand out encouraging books, literature, or Christian DVDs to your neighbors.

• On bad-weather days, try playing Bible games, solving Bible crosswords, memorizing a Bible passage and then reciting it, putting together a nature puzzle, acting out Bible scenes, or reading Christian books.

Sabbath is the day we should set aside all the distractions of the world, so we can draw close to Jesus and learn from Him. With our focus on the Creator, we can honor Him and His special day as a family, and God promises we will be greatly blessed!