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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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Mosiah 3 - Willing to Submit to All Things


Mosiah received a vision of Christ's earthly ministry and encourages all to repent. When an angel of the Lord appeared to Mosiah, he explained why he was there, and why Mosiah was receiving this vision: "For the Lord hath heard thy prayers, and hath judged of thy righteousness, and hath sent me to declare unto thee that thou mayest rejoice; and that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy" (Mosiah 3:4). What a great pattern for receiving personal insights into spiritual things! First, Mosiah evidently sought the Lord in prayer. God has promised that He will answer our questions and reveal truth to us in response to our frequent and consistent prayers. 

 Second, we learn that Mosiah lived a righteous life and that the Lord had "judged of [his] righteousness." When we strive to follow the commandments of God, we prepare ourselves to receive more scriptural knowledge. The relationship between righteousness and revelation reminds me of God's love for his children. Requiring righteousness to receive revelation ensures that, developmentally, we have arrived in a place where we are to handle the additional accountability before we receive it. Paul explained this concept to the Corinthians when he said, "I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 3:2). Throughout this chapter, Mosiah refers to this accountability a number of times, and emphasizes that when we receive additional information, we are accountable and no more found blameless, meaning naive or unaccountable. "The time shall come when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. And behold, when that time cometh, none shall be found blameless before God" (Mosiah 3:20-21). "When thou shalt have taught thy people the things which the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, even then are they found no more blameless in the sight of God" (Mosiah 3:22). 

 Third, God gives us additional knowledge "that thou mayest rejoice." Truths of the gospel should bring perspective, peace and joy to our lives. My experience has been that receiving the joy of truth is a multi-step process, and is not an automatic. There have been many times where church teachings or new spiritual insights have have confused, trouble, or unnerved me. New knowledge has at times filled me with anxiety or apprehension. The power of truth to bring us joy is not in its existence, but in our understanding and acceptance of it. My reflexive rejections of truth have been useful signs to me that there is learning to be had and growth to be won. As one of my favorite college professors once explained, our greatest opportunities for learning exist along the cusp of what we believe and what we reject, what we know and what we don't know. It is through the process of exploring and reconciling what we currently accept and the new ideas we are challenged with that our paradigms are expanded and refined. Only after I have worked out new ideas through study and prayer and experienced the confirming witness of the Holy Ghost has the joy that Mosiah alludes to been available to me. 

 Lastly, God gives us knowledge "that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy" (Mosiah 3:4). Gospel truths are not only intended for personal use or self-aggrandizement. Spiritual insights are a stewardship. Our understanding of God and our testimonies are not our property; they are gifts from God that he extends for the express purpose of blessing his children. The only way that we can experience real and lasting happiness is to live with integrity to our higher natures. As Alma explained, "wickedness never was happiness... all men that are in a state of nature, or ... in a carnal state ...  have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness" (Alma 41:10-11). Mosiah expounded on this idea "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father" (Mosiah 3:19).

 Our only avenue to lasting joy is the atonement of Jesus Christ. Mosiah testified "that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent" (Mosiah 3:17). This transformation to what Paul described as a "new creature" is predicated on listening to the Spirit, and is made possible through Christ's transformative power. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Mosiah couples accepting Christ's atonement with "becoming as a child," which he defines as being "willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him," just as he was (Mosiah 3:19). Christ is our exemplar of being willing to undertake difficult and painful work in order to achieve the higher purposes of the Father. As Mosiah prophesied, "he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death" (Mosiah 3:7). Pain is not the antithesis of joy, but the path to it. Our happiness is contingent on our willingness to do uncomfortable things in line with our values and the will of God. 
Application Questions

 What are the friction points of your testimony? Where do you feel greatest conflict between what you have been taught as truth and what you have experienced and believe? How can you seek greater understanding to narrow the gap?

 How do you declare the truth that you know to others "that they may also be filled with joy"? What more can you do?
Image Credit: John Ankerberg




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