Today is my first day studying "Preach My Gospel" since I began my "Inspirations" study journal. The first chapter is titled, "What Is My Purpose as a Missionary?" While the manual is specifically tailored to full time missionaries, this chapter especially, I still feel that it applies to me since all members should be missionaries in their own respected environments. As a matter of fact, this chapter calls that point out.
The manual quotes President Ezra Taft Benson, saying:
The manual quotes President Ezra Taft Benson, saying:
"We are commanded by God to take this gospel to all the world. That is the cause that must unite us today. Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction. Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family"
(The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 167)
I have come to learn for myself that this is true. Lately, I have been really concerned about the affairs of the world. I watch and listen to the leaders of the world as they address important issues according to their own faculties. There is a lot of commotion in the country and the world around regarding the Affordable Healthcare Act (Obamacare), chemical weapons in Syria, a shooting in a Navy shipyard in DC, and so much more. To address it on their own makes me think of ants in an ant hill.
Drop a rock on the hill and ants pour out onto the rock. Drag a stick through the hill and they will pour out after the stick and around the damaged parts of the hill. Fill the hill with water from a hose or chop it down with a lawnmower and they will pour out frantically going everywhere in mass chaos. In every circumstance they are reactive versus proactive, seemingly quick to action while actually being slow and/or ineffective in the grand perspective of things.
That's how I view our society as it attempts to address real world issues on its own. If only the ants could compel a human being to intervene on their behalf, then so many issues could be resolved. Similarly, if society as a whole would call upon the mercies of God to intervene, so too would we be able to resolve the issues we face everyday.
That is what the Gospel of Christ does. As we immerse ourselves in the Gospel and put God first in our lives, then He can and will protect us, guide us, and open the windows of Heaven to pour out blessings upon us. That is why missionary work, sharing the Gospel, is so vital.
The manual then quotes Mosiah 3:19 in that we are to put off the "natural man" and become a Saint. In other words, we need to let go of things temporal. We need to not let the world get in the way of what matters...which is Christ and His gospel.
Drop a rock on the hill and ants pour out onto the rock. Drag a stick through the hill and they will pour out after the stick and around the damaged parts of the hill. Fill the hill with water from a hose or chop it down with a lawnmower and they will pour out frantically going everywhere in mass chaos. In every circumstance they are reactive versus proactive, seemingly quick to action while actually being slow and/or ineffective in the grand perspective of things.
That's how I view our society as it attempts to address real world issues on its own. If only the ants could compel a human being to intervene on their behalf, then so many issues could be resolved. Similarly, if society as a whole would call upon the mercies of God to intervene, so too would we be able to resolve the issues we face everyday.
That is what the Gospel of Christ does. As we immerse ourselves in the Gospel and put God first in our lives, then He can and will protect us, guide us, and open the windows of Heaven to pour out blessings upon us. That is why missionary work, sharing the Gospel, is so vital.
The manual then quotes Mosiah 3:19 in that we are to put off the "natural man" and become a Saint. In other words, we need to let go of things temporal. We need to not let the world get in the way of what matters...which is Christ and His gospel.
To the left is a picture representing the tree of life which Lehi and later Nephi saw in a vision in 1 Nephi 8 and 11, symbolizing the love of God. The manual asks the following questions:
The fruit represents the greatest gift anyone could possibly receive...the love of God. As such, Lehi's ultimate desire after he received it was to share that love with everyone. However, in order to partake of the fruit the people had to first find the tree through the mists of darkness. The only way they could do that was to grab hold of the iron rod which represented the scriptures or the Gospel...the word of God. This requires letting go of worldly desires.
At this point of my journal, I had previously written two paragraphs talking about how I don't fully understand this concept of completely letting go of worldly desires. I deleted them because I think I understand it better now. My concern was that it seemed impossible to let go of temporal things in a temporal world...but I don't think that's the message here. It's not a matter of letting go of the things...it's a matter of letting go of the love of things. Think of it again in the sense that the fruit is love and Lehi wanted to love others. In order to receive the love of Christ we have to let go of our love for temporal things.
For those of you who are familiar with this story, maybe that's a concept you already understood. For me however, this was a big revelation. I always took this story to mean that we had to abandon ourselves, similarly to the apostles when Christ told them to leave their nets and follow Him. He wasn't just saying to leave the physical nets, He was saying to leave their lives of being fisherman and take on a life preaching instead. Imagine being an accountant, providing for a family, and God said, "No more being an accountant, go preach the Gospel for the rest of your life."
That's how I always interpreted this story. Granted, I didn't think that we are all supposed to become preachers by profession. But I did have it in my mind that we should set the Gospel as the focus of our profession, whatever we choose. I do still feel that we should include the Gospel in every aspect of our lives, but again that isn't the message here. The message I now see is an internal check on what we hold dear...what do we love? Do we love the Gospel and are we clinging to it with all our heart?
Or do we love the filthy lucre of this world? Are our hearts set on the ever changing, ever fast flowing river of busy day-to-day life like Laman and Lemuel? Here our lives seem to be constantly on the move, being partially founded on solid ground but mostly just skittering across the surface. Or even worse, do we love our own pride and the praise of others? That brings us into the building with no foundation wherein we will fall and be destroyed due to the lusts of our own hearts for power and praise.
---
Well that's all I have today. I am sure that my entries going forward won't be this long. Ultimately, the lesson is that we should love Christ, His Atonement and His gospel first, doing all we can to partake of it ourselves and then share it with all we can. I love the Gospel and I hope to do just that.
- What did Lehi desire after he had eaten the fruit? (See 1 Nephi 8:10-18.)
- In the vision, what did the people need to do to be able to partake of the fruit? What do we need to do to receive all the blessings of the Atonement? In what ways do commitments and covenants help us partake of these blessings?
- As a missionary, what is your duty in helping others find and partake of the fruits of the gospel?
The fruit represents the greatest gift anyone could possibly receive...the love of God. As such, Lehi's ultimate desire after he received it was to share that love with everyone. However, in order to partake of the fruit the people had to first find the tree through the mists of darkness. The only way they could do that was to grab hold of the iron rod which represented the scriptures or the Gospel...the word of God. This requires letting go of worldly desires.
At this point of my journal, I had previously written two paragraphs talking about how I don't fully understand this concept of completely letting go of worldly desires. I deleted them because I think I understand it better now. My concern was that it seemed impossible to let go of temporal things in a temporal world...but I don't think that's the message here. It's not a matter of letting go of the things...it's a matter of letting go of the love of things. Think of it again in the sense that the fruit is love and Lehi wanted to love others. In order to receive the love of Christ we have to let go of our love for temporal things.
For those of you who are familiar with this story, maybe that's a concept you already understood. For me however, this was a big revelation. I always took this story to mean that we had to abandon ourselves, similarly to the apostles when Christ told them to leave their nets and follow Him. He wasn't just saying to leave the physical nets, He was saying to leave their lives of being fisherman and take on a life preaching instead. Imagine being an accountant, providing for a family, and God said, "No more being an accountant, go preach the Gospel for the rest of your life."
That's how I always interpreted this story. Granted, I didn't think that we are all supposed to become preachers by profession. But I did have it in my mind that we should set the Gospel as the focus of our profession, whatever we choose. I do still feel that we should include the Gospel in every aspect of our lives, but again that isn't the message here. The message I now see is an internal check on what we hold dear...what do we love? Do we love the Gospel and are we clinging to it with all our heart?
Or do we love the filthy lucre of this world? Are our hearts set on the ever changing, ever fast flowing river of busy day-to-day life like Laman and Lemuel? Here our lives seem to be constantly on the move, being partially founded on solid ground but mostly just skittering across the surface. Or even worse, do we love our own pride and the praise of others? That brings us into the building with no foundation wherein we will fall and be destroyed due to the lusts of our own hearts for power and praise.
---
Well that's all I have today. I am sure that my entries going forward won't be this long. Ultimately, the lesson is that we should love Christ, His Atonement and His gospel first, doing all we can to partake of it ourselves and then share it with all we can. I love the Gospel and I hope to do just that.