The World Shall Judge Him to Be a Thing of Naught

1 Nephi 19:7–9




I know I have mentioned the book The Hiding Place in a previous post, but reading these scriptures from the Book of Mormon have brought it to mind once again. I was impressed with the family of Miss Ten Boom and their regard for a loving Heavenly Father. Not only did they fear God and desire to act in a manner that would be pleasing to Him, the description that was given of the people they associated with also loved God and His Son. In reading this I mentioned to my Hubby that we no longer live in a God fearing society. Gone are the days when the majority see their wrong actions as something that might bring the wrath of heaven down upon them. If the question was posed today "What think ye of Christ?" (Matt 22:42) would the answer be "I really don't think of Him at all."
Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said "Comparatively, brothers and sisters, it matters very little what people think of us, but it matters very much what we think of Him."
My days are busy with the daily tasks of caring for and worrying about a family. There are several enticing "things" of the world that also draw my attention (I have a slight addiction to Amazon, Apple products, Tiny Yorkies and good deals on ksl.com). My point is, I could do more to think of Him whose name I take upon myself every Sunday.
I am full of mistakes in life, but I make no mistake in saying that through Jesus Christ we can overcome the muddles of this mortal life. Through Him worlds were created (D&C 14:9) and miracles wrought, and through Him I can be transformed into the human being He sees me capable of being. A great article from a BYU devotional talks of Christ’s Grace being sufficient to transform us:
"Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom pays the piano teacher. Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice! Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No. Does the child’s practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom’s joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used—seeing her child improve. And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice."
This was an analogy I could relate very well to. Not only did I gain understanding from this analogy but some of my daily guilt of not measuring up to perfection was swept away. Perfect I am not, but practicing I can do!
I love Christ, I know He lives! I know He will help me along the way.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fine Tuning a Listening Ear

Image
    The last chapter of 3 Nephi begins with the word hearken. In fact, several times throughout these last chapters of 3 Nephi, the people of our day are given warnings and told to hearken. Throughout the Book of Mormon we are called to attention with such words as hearken, listen, give heed, and behold. When we come across one of these words, it is wise to slow the pace and pay attention. Bishop H. David Burton spoke of hearkening to the word of the Lord in General Conference: "Perhaps the greatest obstacle to our ability to hearken courageously to the word of the Lord involves our egos, vain ambitions, and pride. It seems that the proud find it burdensome to hear and accept the instruction of God. We are told in Proverbs that “pride goeth before destruction” ( Prov. 16:18 )."  I have been consistently, almost daily, reading the Book of Mormon for over a year now. I took part of a Relief Society challenge and read the entire Book of Mormon last fall, then I began
Read more

"If we acknowledge Him now, He will lovingly acknowledge and gladly admit us then!”

Image
  I have come to the part in the Book of Mormon where a reversal of roles has taken place. Those people(the Lamanites) that had once been taught, now become the teachers. Many of the Nephites had become prideful and ignored their own prophets, so the Lord sent a Lamanite prophet, Samuel, to warn them to repent and prepare for the coming of the Lord. The Nephites didn't like what Samuel had to tell them. A miracle was brought about as Samuel was divinely protected from the arrows of the angry Nephites. In thinking about these chapters I am amazed at how a righteous people, in a matter of a few short years, had come to a wicked state as to seek the death of a servant and prophet of the Lord. How can we protect ourselves from falling prey to the destruction that comes when we are stuck in the pride cycle as described in the chapters of Helaman? One of Samuel's purposes of teaching the Nephites was to remind them of the coming of Christ. Why would teaching about the Savior, Je
Read more

Friendship

Image
Being a mother of teenagers, I am introduced to many things that I otherwise may not have found interesting, or on my own. One of which is music. My playlist is getting quite diverse since my daughter has learned that I have a weakness for good music. All she needs say is "Mom, I found this song, you should listen to it...and then buy it." She has learned that if the message is good, I generally don't hesitate to click the 'buy' button. Yesterday she introduced me to one such song.(see link below)  I don't know the artist's reasoning and vision behind the lyrics, but I felt that it was singing about love, hope, and helping one another through the battles of life. In short, it sings of friendship. Since I am limited in my talent abilities to sing, or create through works of art when I am inspired, I will take the feelings I felt while listening and try to convey those ideas into words. Joseph Smith gave us a glimpse of his measure of friend
Read more