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
Moroni chapter 4 documents the sacrament prayer used to bless the bread before it is broken and passed to the congregation.
"O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen" (Moroni 4:3).
Partaking of the sacrament each week offers members a chance to renew the covenants they made when they were baptized. When we take the sacrament, we can enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost if we keep three promises:
- take on Christ's name
- always remember him
- keep his commandments
This time reading the sacrament prayer I noticed that these three promises are preceded by the phrase, "witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to..."
God does not expect perfection in our commitment or obedience. He knows that despite our best efforts and frequent reminders that we will fall short of the standard of righteousness. Even when we take the sacrament, we are not exactly promising to perfectly take Christ's name upon us, always remember him, and keep His commandments. If we could do those three things, we would in fact be perfect. But because we cannot perfectly align ourselves with God's will and represent Christ (i.e. take his name upon us), because we regularly forget what Christ's atonement and frequently act in ways that dismissive and ungrateful, and because we all frequently violate the laws of God, the sacrament prayer simply invites us to witness that we are willing to do those things.
Witness Unto Thee
In other priesthood ordinances, we not only witness to God, but we witness to others, whether they are angels recording in heaven, or other observers present. For example baptism is performed with two witness, and temple ordinances include specific language about who we are demonstrating our commitment to. The sacrament prayer makes a point of emphasizing that we are demonstrating our willingness to God and to God only. It is a private symbol directly between the person taking the sacrament and God the Father.
That They Are Willing
Essentially, when we take the sacrament we are promising to want to try. God knows we are not able to promise to do the three things we covenanted to do at baptism. He simply wants us to reorient our hearts and manifest our conversion to the gospel. He wants us to turn and face the right direction again. He wants us to promise that we will deliberately try to keep moving toward him as many times as it takes to get there.
Application Questions
How can I make the sacrament more meaningful?
How can I make the sacrament a personal communication and symbol with God?
How can I increase my willingness to take on Christ's name, remember Him, and keep His commandments?
Image Credit: www.lds.org
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