It was a Saturday afternoon. A father and his son had just finished washing the family van. A combined dust-and-rain storm during the week had left the vehicle flecked with residue from dirty water drops. The van had been purchased recently, and the family was anxious to restore the luster that had graced it when they brought it home from the dealership.

Now, at the dinner table, the father saw an opportunity to teach a gospel principle.

"Do you see some value in washing our van weekly?" he asked. "Can you imagine what would happen if weeks went by and we never washed it? It would grow progressively dirtier; the spots would become more difficult to remove.

"Like an automobile, our souls are prone to becoming spotted in a spiritual sense from exposure to the ungodly influences of the world. Our Father in Heaven has given us a means to keep ourselves cleansed from the effects of this exposure."

He then read to the family this scriptural passage:

"And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;

"For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High" (Doctrine and Covenants 59:9-10).

His "holy day," the father explained, is the Sabbath, and the "house of prayer" is the location and setting for the sacrament service and our other Sabbath day meetings. Sabbath meetings would include partaking of the sacrament of the Lord's supper as well as the other acts of devotion and worship we perform at our meetings.

Lacking understanding, some minimize the importance of this injunction to go to the house of prayer on the Sabbath day. They rationalize they can absent themselves with no significant harm so long as they try to perform good works. But James taught that "pure religion and undefiled before God" involves acts of service and charity as well as keeping oneself unspotted from the world. (See James 1:27.) And through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord admonished believers to honor and delight in the Sabbath, "not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure" on this day. (See Isaiah 58:12.)

Going to the house of prayer on the Sabbath keeps us unspotted in at least five important ways:

1. We obey a commandment from the Lord and thereby secure for ourselves and our families the associated blessings that always attend obedience. Moreover, we avoid the consequences of disobedience. Over time, if not repented of, willful neglect of a commandment of God can be spiritually debilitating, even fatal.

2. We partake of the sacrament of the Lord's supper. Hereby, we renew the covenants made at baptism. In our thoughts, we repent of wrongdoing and neglect of duty and recommit ourselves to following and serving God, with the promise in the sacrament prayers that as we strive do so we will have His Spirit to be with us.

3. We learn the gospel in its purity and fullness. The bishop and other local officers ensure the doctrinal accuracy and effectiveness of the teaching that transpires in our Sunday meetings and classes. Thus, we are nurtured with the word of God and insulated against temptation, falsehood, apostasy and the efforts of those who might sow seeds of doubt in our hearts.

4. We draw strength from fellowship with other Latter-day Saints. Through well-prepared talks or lessons, appropriate comments made in classroom settings, even our very presence, we strengthen those around us. As a campfire burns brighter when its coals are close together, the fire of testimony is intensified through communion with our brothers and sisters in the gospel.

5. We fulfill our callings and duties. Jacob and others were set apart as priests and teachers among the Nephites. He wrote: "And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day" (Jacob 1:19).

Part of the work of bringing souls to Christ is accomplished in the setting of Sabbath worship. Generally, people come with a readiness and frame of mind to be taught, encouraged, strengthened and admonished. Those who hold callings in the Church but find other pursuits to occupy them on the Sabbath may miss opportunities to nurture those within their watch care. They risk not being found spotless if, by their neglect, a soul is lost.

Clearly, there is everything to be gained from going to the house of prayer on the Sabbath and much to be lost by not doing so.