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9 - 15 Mar - Learn With Joy and Not With Sorrow - Jacob 1 - 4

Jacob 1 - That We Might Persuade Them to Come Unto Christ I'm taking an online economics class right now, which prompted me to think of the definition of economics in the context of the scriptures. Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources. In the case of Nephi and his successor Jacob, the plates upon which they engraved their record was a scarce resource. They were costly to make and difficult to engrave, and instilling a tradition of passing them through generations was surely cumbersome.  Recognizing the great importance of spiritual things and the challenge of maintaining records, Nephi instructed Jacob to prioritize religious instruction saying, " if there were preaching which was sacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the heads of them upon these plates, and touch upon them as much as it were possible, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of our people" (Jacob 1:4).   This priority was not only reflecte...
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2 Nephi 4 - I Know in Whom I Have Trusted


Sometimes I feel the scriptures are the social media versions of prophets' lives, carefully curated to capture the highlights of their experiences and teachings. We don't see the times when prophets  were bored, or yelled at their kids. Not every day was as meaningful as the few they recorded, neither were their lives as inevitable as they seem to us reading about them thousands of years later. For this reason I treasure the hints and allusions that render them human, and give insight into the rest of their lives. In this beautiful and humanizing passage, we glimpse the intensity of Nephi's struggle with anger, sorrow, temptation, and sin. The fact that the same man who saw visions, performed miracles, and lived a life of astonishing faith also had cause to weep for his failings gives me hope and helps me be more kind to myself.

In his BYU Forum address "The Glorious Cause of America", David McCullough captured this idea beautifully:  "History was never on a track. It was never preordained that it would turn out as it did. We think that there had to have been a Revolutionary War, that there had to have been a Declaration of Independence, that there had to have been a Constitution, but never was that so. In history, ... character counts over and over. Personality is often the determining factor in why things turn out the way they do ... Nobody ever lived in the past. Jefferson, Adams, George Washington—...they were living in the present, just as we do ... and just as we don’t know how things are going to turn out, they didn’t either."

 Amid the uncertainty of life, Nephi goes on to testify that "My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep. He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh" (2 Nephi 4:20-21). This passage reminds me of a stanza from the gospel hymn Amazing Grace (as arranged by Chris Tomlin and performed by BYU Noteworthy):

 Through countless dangers, doubts and fears
I have already come


God's grace has brought me safely here
And grace will lead me home
The greatest testimony I have of the Savior and the truth of the Gospel is the enriching and saving influence it has had in my life to this point. That lifetime of experience with his love and generosity helps me believe that he will continue to watch over and care for me.  Nephi's confidence in the amazing grace of the Savior is rooted in his humble and penitent spirit, and his trust in the Lord. Nephi asks the Lord to redeem his soul (31), deliver him from his enemies (31, 33), make him shake at the appearance of sin (31), shut the gates of hell (32), open the gates of righteousness (32), encircle him in righteousness (33), make his path straight (33), and remove stumbling blocks (33) "because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! (32) ... I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever (33)." 

 Like Nephi, "I know in whom I have trusted" (2 Nephi 4:19). To me that means I am trying to more fully know the nature and character of God by following him. It means that I recognize the ways he has helped in the past. And perhaps most importantly, it means that I make a conscious and deliberate decision to continue to trust in Him. In summary, I echo Nephi's love, remorse, and recommitment, distilled here in the hymn "I Love the Lord" (with Lyrics by John Tanner adapted from 2 Nephi chapter 4, performed by the BYU Singers): 

 I love the Lord, in Him my soul delights.
Upon His word, I ponder day and night.
He's heard my cry, brought visions to my sleep,
And kept me safe o'er deserts and the deep.
He's filled my heart with His consuming love,
And borne me high on wings of His great dove.

Yet oft I groan, "O wretched man am I"
My flesh is weak and Im encompassed by
A world of sin, which holds me in its thrall,
If I give in and to temptations fall.
Then strength grows slack, I waste in sorrows vale;
My peace destroyed, my enemies prevail.

Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin.
Rejoice, my heart! And let me praise again,
The Lord my God, who is my rock and stay
To keep me strict upon His straight, plain way.
Oh let me shake at the first sight of sin
And thus escape my foes without and in.

I love the Lord, In him my soul delights.

Image Credit: http://www.98bucksocial.com

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