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
Nephi continues his prophesy of our day, and foresees the translation of the Book of Mormon. As part of this revelation, Nephi sees an exchange between Martin Harris, one of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon, and a professor of Linguistics at Columbia College in New York, Charles Anthon. Martin Harris showed professor Anthon a copy of the characters engraved on the gold plates from which Joseph Smith translated, and professor Anthon refused to certify the authenticity of the characters (The full account it recorded in Joseph Smith History JSH 1:64-65):
"Take these words which are not sealed and deliver them to another, that he may show them unto the learned, saying: Read this, I pray thee. And the learned shall say: Bring hither the book, and I will read them ... Then shall the learned say: I cannot read it. Wherefore it shall come to pass, that the Lord God will deliver again the book and the words thereof to him that is not learned; and the man that is not learned shall say: I am not learned. Then shall the Lord God say unto him: The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee" (2 Nephi 27:15, 18-20).
Moses expressed similar concerns when he was called to go before Pharaoh and petition for the release of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage:
"And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say" (Exodus 4:10-12).
These heartening passages reinforce the truth that whom the Lord calls he qualifies, for "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty (1 Corinthians 1:27). We hesitate to do the God's will because we are afraid that we might fail, or that we might be judged by others. Here God clearly states that we have no need to fear failure, because He is able to do His own work and guarantee success. And while we not be able to anticipate the pace of this success or what it will look like in our lives, we have been promised that even failure and our darkest trials can benefit us:
"And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good" (D&C 122:7)
What is more difficult that trusting in God's omnipotence, though, is weaning ourselves from the approval of man.
The other night Bren and I talked about specific circumstances in which we feel influenced by what others think. Inventorying when and where I "fear man" the most (and the least) has been the most helpful strategy so far in understanding why I care. It also helped me realize that my need for approval from others is an attempt to fill a void. In areas where I have a personal compelling belief about myself (e.g. "I am creative") I am not influenced by what others think (e.g. I feel almost no anxiety or uncertainty baking, painting, or building a set, even if I make mistakes, because I believe myself when I say "I am creative"). By contrast, in areas where I do care what others think, it is because I don't have a compelling personal belief. In our conversation, we discovered the I am overly concerned about my personal appearance, and the reason I care is because I don't believe for myself that "I am attractive." Until I do, no number of hours in the gym, or compliments from my wife can alleviate that insecurity. Substitute any phrase you like: "I'm a good mom." "I have enough money." "I do important work." "I am intelligent." Until we truly believe those things about ourselves, we will always care what others think. The problem resides in our thoughts. The reason God's thoughts about us are so important is because He knows and loves us perfectly, and can convince us of the truth of His perspective through the Spirit. We can have our natures changed to believe the truth about ourselves if we ask Him specifically and sincerely, and do our part to supervise our thoughts.
Application Questions:
What righteous goal am I not pursuing because I question my ability?
How can I more fully rely on the Lord to do His work or overcome challenges in my life?
How can I care less what people think about me and more what God thinks of me?
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