"And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.
And whosoever will hearken unto my words and repenteth and is baptized, the same shall be saved. Search the prophets, for many there be that testify of these things."
The Lord, Jesus Christ is speaking of the scriptures. He tells the Nephites that great are the words of Isaiah. That Isaiah speaks concerning the house of Israel and the Gentiles. That all things he spake have been and will be fulfilled. He says multiple times we are to search the scriptures. Then He had the Nephite records brought before him and he "cast his eyes upon them" and then asks them about the words of Samuel, the Lamanite, and the prophecy that many saints would arise from the dead. It had not been included, and they corrected this error. It does point out that if there are errors in the scriptures they are the errors of men. Then he expounds all the scriptures in one.
How amazing that would have been to have the Savior, Jesus Christ expound the scriptures to me. Then I thought about how over come I would have been and would have probably missed a lot of what he said. Again, I see the importance of having the scriptures so I could go back and ponder on the words that he said. And, not just to read them but to search them. That takes a lot more effort but is so worth it.
I noticed the phrase "search these things diligently" and it made me reflect on Elder Bednar's apostolic blessing yesterday.
"I invoke a blessing upon you that according to your desire and your diligence, that you may be blessed to have eyes to see and ears to hear, the remarkable lessons that can be learned through the constraints that we would not want to experience, but we are now experiencing. I express my love to you. I declare my witness and I invoke these blessings upon you in the sacred name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."
(David A. Bednar, "Apostolic Blessing", Utah American Fork (South) - Member Devotional, Sunday, August 9, 2020)
I had felt the part of the condition of receiving this blessing was not only the desire but my diligence, and to me that included reading the scriptures. Now I see a correlation to this by the words of the Savior himself.
I reflected on the progress I have made since Christmas 2010 when I received a new set of scriptures. I committed to reading my scriptures every day and I have never missed. I had been so ill that I struggled to read and comprehend so the doctor told me to read out loud to myself. I needed to hear and see the words to make the connections. Instead I listened to the scriptures recordings and followed along in my new set. It took years to comprehend again and be able to read by myself. My brain healed and has expanded in strength, all from reading the scriptures. I love them and it is the best part of my day.
President Gordon B. Hinckley was so right when he said "I am grateful for the emphasis on reading the scriptures. I hope that for you this will become something far more enjoyable than a duty; that, rather, it will become a love affair with the word of God. I promise you that as you read, your minds will be enlightened and your spirits will be lifted. At first it may seem tedious, but that will change into a wondrous experience with thoughts and words of things divine."
(Gordon B. Hinckly, "The Light within You", April 1995, General Conference)
Day 1960
No comments:
Post a Comment