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...
Mormon prophesied that the record he was abridging would be preserved and come forth in our time that "ye may know that the words of the Lord, which have been spoken by the holy prophets, shall all be fulfilled" (3 Nephi 29:2). One of God's defining characteristics as a diving being is His personal integrity. He fulfills all of His words. Not only is He perfectly honest, but He is perfectly capable of doing what he says he will do. I've heard this principle talked about in leadership leadership books and management training. To have credibility with others, we have to exhibit not only that we mean what we way, but demonstrate that we have the skills and ability to do it. Christ perfectly exemplifies this characteristic for us to emulate.
Mormon mourned and decried those who do not believe in continuing revelation today: "Yea, wo unto him that shall deny the revelations of the Lord, and that shall say the Lord no longer worketh by revelation, or by prophecy, or by gifts, or by tongues, or by healings, or by the power of the Holy Ghost!" (3 Nephi 29:6). What is the down side of not believing in these things? Why is unbelief such a pitiable state? You could even argue that not believing that God and miracles exist would spur us to action instead of relying of some ethereal external power.
Believing that God used to work miracles but He doesn't anymore underestimates his power, and overestimates human ability. It implies that God can't act, or that He won't act. It implies that either His power or His love is limited when neither could be further from the truth. People generally take action based on how they imagine the result will make them feel. If we have no sense that our efforts will succeed it is impossible to have hope and keep moving forward. We act because we believe that what we are doing will matter. Faith in our loving and omnipotent Father gives us hope and determination to keep His commandments and do good in the world.
Application Questions
How have you been blessed by personal revelation, or revelation from living prophets?
How does your testimony of a living, loving God motivate you to do good in the world?
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