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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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Alma 12 - There Was a Space Granted Unto Man



After hearing the words of Amulek, Zeezrom begins to sense the error of his ways and feel anxiety for own souls. Alma recounts that "Zeezrom began to inquire of them diligently" no longer seeking to entrap Alma and Amulek, but with a desire to understand (Alma 12:8).  This was in part because Zeezrom could tell that Alma and Amulek were privy to the thoughts and intents of his heart through the power of the Holy Ghost. Alma saw through Zeezrom's plan to trip them up and explained  to Zeezrom that his plan was inspired by the devil: "Now this was a plan of thine adversary, and he hath exercised his power in thee" (Alma 12:5).

Often Satan is referred to as the adversary, but here Alma personalizes that title for Zeezrom and highlights the fact that the devil was literally his adversary. Satan is not "the adversary" in an abstract or impersonal way, but literally. He is the foil of each of us and seeks to impede our growth and destroy our peace. True, he wants to disrupt the greater work of God, but he seeks to challenge and undermine us as individuals. Just as salvation is an individual exercise, so is damnation. When we heed his temptations we surrender our personal power and fall into his control. Sin brings negative consequences and limits our future choices. In Zeerom's case, Satan "hath exercised his power in thee." I interpret exercise to mean to strengthen, practice, or expand; when we heed his temptations he solidifies his foothold in our hearts, and exerts influence in the world through our fallen words and actions.

By contrast, when we seek to follow God, we learn and grow line upon line, precept upon precent. There is no short cut to receiving greater spiritual knowledge. Receiving it is alway predicated on God's perfect foreknowledge and our personal righteousness and preparation: "It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him" (Alma 12:9). God wants us to receive all the knowledge that he has, but also does not want to make us unfairly accountable to a higher standard of conduct before we are prepared. He protects us by establishing criteria or conditions that must be met before revealing more truth to us. My favorite example of this is in the New Testament when the Savior taught in parables so that he could speak freely and openly to all, but the meaning of the stories could only be unlocked through pondering, personal inquiry, and promptings of the Spirit. When he are obedient to His commandments and sincerely seek knowledge, we receive it. When we are disobedient, we grow forgetful and lose the clarity and understanding we had.

When I think of the atrocities, inequity, disappointments, and violence of this world I am amazed by the power of Christ to right all wrongs, and God's level of comfort with chaos in order to facilitate the growth of His children. While all people are doing their best, sometimes our best is truly awful, and God allows the experiment to precede as we learn on each other's time and impose what seem like staggering costs on each other. And somehow it's all okay. Somehow it is all circumscribed by Christ's power to heal. God is committed to preserving our free will at a very high cost and is not willing to shortchange our opportunities for growth by rendering justice too early. He knows that success is a terrible teacher and is content to have us fail, sometimes seriously, to help us school or impulses, desires, and actions. Alma uses the phrase "a probationary state" to describe our life on earth and taught that "there was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God (Alma 12:24).

While mortal life is turbulent and fraught with peril, God provides guidance and offers assistance to all those who seek Him. Alma taught that from the beginning of time "God conversed with men, and made known unto them the plan of redemption, which had been prepared from the foundation of the world; and this he made known unto them according to their faith and repentance and their holy works" (Alma 12:30). Whether we are aware of His love and guiding hand or not, God is overseeing our experience on earth and is more urgently invested in our well-being than anyone else. He is leveraging all His wisdom and capacity as a perfect God to facilitate our growth. No matter what we have experienced in life we can have perfect confidence that it was an intended part of our path, and can be consecrated for our good through the power of God.


Application Questions

What "mysteries of God" or truths of the gospel have you learned in the last year? How can you see greater understanding of the gospel and nuance to your testimony?

 What have your sins and failures taught you? How are you a better, stronger person because you have had the opportunity to make mistakes?
Image Credit: Sam Edwards

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