Today's Favorite Verse: Deuteronomy 23:24-25

Today's Favorite Verse: Deuteronomy 23:24-25

"When thou comest into thy neighbour’s vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.

When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour’s standing corn."

These verses made me think of the time when Jesus and his apostles went into a field and plucked ears of corn and ate them.

"And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.

And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?

And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?

How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?

And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath."

(Mark 2:23-28)

I remember when I could not understand these verses. For it sure sounded like Jesus and his apostles stole corn, but instead the Savior speaks to the Pharisees about the sabbath day. What Jesus was teaching was according to the law of Moses you could pluck corn from a field, as long as you didn't take to it far and use a sickle to gather the ears. Yet the Pharisees and their oral laws took the activity allowed on the sabbath day to far. Among other things they said you couldn't go into a field and pluck corn on the sabbath. That was not what the law of Moses said. So Jesus was telling them not to go beyond the mark. That is exactly what President Nelson has counseled on our behavior on what is acceptable or not on the sabbath day, and what sign we are giving to God.

"How do we hallow the Sabbath day? In my much younger years, I studied the work of others who had compiled lists of things to do and things not to do on the Sabbath. It wasn’t until later that I learned from the scriptures that my conduct and my attitude on the Sabbath constituted a sign between me and my Heavenly Father. With that understanding, I no longer needed lists of dos and don’ts. When I had to make a decision whether or not an activity was appropriate for the Sabbath, I simply asked myself, “What sign do I want to give to God?” That question made my choices about the Sabbath day crystal clear.

(Russell M. Nelson, "The Sabbath is a Delight", Apr 2015, General Conference)

Day 2335