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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 56 - As Well in the Lord as in the Tribulations of Our Warfare


Helaman wrote a letter to Moroni in which he described him as his dearly beloved brother "as well in the Lord as in the tribulations of our warfare" (Alma 56:2). They were joined not only in a campaign to defend themselves against the Lamanites, but also in their shared belief in Jesus Christ. Another reading could highlight that they were brothers in bad times as well as good--the peace and transcendence of the gospel as well as their shared plight in war. I love the idea of being united as sibling not only in the tranquility of faith in Christ, but in the trenches of our darkest and most rigorous challenges. Taken metaphorically, the "tribulations of war" represent the buffetings, sorrow, and effort of mortal life. Like Helaman, I hope to remain a "dearly beloved brother" to the people I love as they cope with mental illness, deal with addiction, suffer disease, face disappointment, mourn loses, and endure rejection. While to this point Helaman and Moroni had fought battles separately, they were allied in what Helaman called "our warfare." None of our trials are really individual. In this mortal chapter of the struggle between good and evil, everything is our warfare. No one sins or suffers without it impacting us collectively, and efforts to heal and comfort raise us all. 

 Nowhere is this more apparent to me than in marriage. Yes, we are united as spouses in faith and love, and enjoy beautiful vistas from peaks of compassion and intimacy. But this commitment also extends into the deepest valleys of personal and marital struggle, not to mention the trenches of parenting. Our aspiration is to remain "dearly beloved" not only while reveling in the sanctity and joy of temple covenants, but while vacuuming smashed goldfish crackers out of minivan upholstery.

 When the people of Ammon saw the Nephites suffering in their defense, they wanted to help, so much so that when "they saw our afflictions and our tribulations for them, they were about to break the covenant which they had made and take up their weapons of war in our defence" (Alma 56:7). But Helaman refused and encouraged them to keep their covenant with God: "I would not suffer them that they should break this covenant which they had made, supposing that God would strengthen us, insomuch that we should not suffer more because of the fulfilling the oath which they had taken” (Alma 56:8). I know I am often tempted to bend rules when it seems like a reasonable accommodation, and certainly there are cases when it is appropriate. Christ illustrated this by picking corn and healing on the Sabbath, for example. I have also experienced, however, the blessings of obedience when I've tried to keep a commandment that seemed hard, inconvenient, or inconsequential. 

 So when do we make exceptions and when should we be sticklers? In the Old Testament God severely punished a man named Uzzah who violated God's instructions not to touch the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6). "Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it;" he was inspired by a desire to keep the ark from falling. And yet, "the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God" (2 Samuel 6:6-7). Like Uzzah, we all experience lapses in faith and act in misguided anxiety. We worry that the costs of obedience outweigh the benefits, or that some great damage could be avoided by making an exception. Because we are imperfect people living in an imperfect world, keeping the higher standard of God's commandments is inherently uncomfortable, but we have been promised that "we should not suffer more because of the fulfilling the oath which they had taken."
Application Questions

 How can you use your challenges or the challenges of others as an opportunity to grow closer to family and friends? What does it mean to be "dearly beloved?"

 When are you most likely to let yourself off the hook and justify exceptions to keeping the commandments?

 How are your words and actions a symbol of your feelings for God? What can you do, to be more deliberate in signaling your love to God?
Image Credit: U.S. Army Spc. Nikayla Shodeen 

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