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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 16 - Having a Live Coal in His Hand


I can still remember reading this chapter as a teenager. It was the first time that the writings of Isaiah had ever resonated with me, and the swelling of awareness and enthusiasm I felt remains today. Isaiah had a vision of Jesus Christ and described his cleansing and anointment to be a prophet in metaphorical terms:
"Then said I: Wo is unto me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips; and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts. Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; And he laid it upon my mouth, and said: Lo, this has touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged" 2 Nephi 16:5-7).
We are all fallible and imperfect beings and exist in a fallen world. At times "seeing the King" or becoming aware of God, His Glory, and His will can leave us feeling diminished and worthy by comparison. Isaiah lamented "I am undone" out of literally fear that beholding God with his natural and unclean eyes would lead to his destruction. But Isaiah was cleansed and saw God with his spiritual eyes like Moses, who explained, "mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him" ( Moses 1:11) Our apprehension about abiding with God, the daunting nature of the gap between us and him, and our discomfort with living his commandments is decreased as we are transformed and replace natural eyes with spiritual eyes. 
A "live coal ... taken with the tongs from off the altar" invokes the power of Jesus Christ to cleanse us. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, sacrificed on the alter to atone for the sins of the world. For millennia before Christ was born the children of Israel offered their own sacrifices to remind them of his coming atonement. The "live coal" is the product or outcome of the burnt offering. It is His power wrought through the atonement, full of energy and heat to transform. When this coal was laid upon Isaiah's mouth and touched his lips, he was purified. I like to think that it prepared his mouth specifically to preach the word of God. 
While Isaiah's vision was unique and tailored to his calling as a prophet, we all have access to the "live coal," or the cleansing and enabling power of the atonement. 
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