Sunday, November 15, 2009

Sunday thoughts

Tonight I was working on some seminary assignments with Max (for 2 hours!). We studied Jacob 5 - Omni. I tell you, that allegory of the olive trees is not easy to understand!

Even though at times I am tired and doing seminary (again) would not be my first choice, I think it's great that the home study program calls for parental involvement. It gives us a chance to read together and talk and really think about what the scriptures mean and how we can apply them.

I was reminded tonight of some of my favorite verses in Jacob 6:

6 Yea, today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts; for why will ye adie?
7 For behold, after ye have been nourished by the good aword of God all the day long, will ye bring forth evil fruit, that ye must be bhewn down and cast into the fire?
8 Behold, will ye reject these words? Will ye reject the words of the aprophets; and will ye reject all the words which have been spoken concerning Christ, after so many have spoken concerning him; and bdeny the good word of Christ, and the power of God, and the cgift of the Holy Ghost, and quench the Holy Spirit, and make a dmock of the great plan of redemption, which hath been laid for you?

11 O then, my beloved brethren, repent ye, and enter in at the astrait gate, and bcontinue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life.
12 O be awise; what can I say more?

I just love this. Why would we, after having been nourished by the good word of God, reject it? Why would we harden our hearts? Why would we reject Christ, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the whole plan of redemption which is only for our benefit?

I'll tell you why: pride, laziness, shame, discouragement, and a host of other reasons.

I hope and pray that I will always seek repentance and the guidance of the Holy Ghost, that my heart will be continually softened, and that I will always put my faith in the plan of happiness.

And, oh that verse 12. You've just got to love that.

13 comments:

Jill said...

Verse 12 is one of my great favorites!

Wow, 2 hours of seminary study together sounds challenging, but like one of those things you're grateful for later. I have a hard time with the Olive Tree allegory every time I read the Book of Mormon.

crystal said...

I love verse 12! Wouldn't that be GREAT on a wall somewhere???

This is a beautiful post.

Marie said...

It is so great you can do that with Max. It is a lot of work, I am sure, but teaching him to be WISE is amazing.

Bond Girl 007 said...

OH, i was just reminded of Salomon when he could has God for anything he wanted he wanted wisdom....that was really good and eye opening for me.

patsy said...

Really good post.
I know seminary is a pain (a lot of early morning experience talking here)but I know I was blessed for the effort- really blessed!

Neighbor Jane Payne said...

I love Jacob 5. "Counsel me not" is a verse I really appreciate in that chapter as well as the categories of nourishing, digging, pruning and dunging. I have discovered that all of my life experiences fall into one of those areas and it helps me to make so much more sense of them. (In fact, I'm doing a scrapbook using those four things as the categories in which to organize our memories.) Pruning hurts, but it has made me grow straighter and stronger. I like dunging the best. To me that means the Lord just plops blessings on top of me that make me better than I was before. Oh...you've hit a vein with me. I love the allegory of the Olive Tree. (After using the seminary information, of course. It helps to make it much more applicable!) By the way, have you ordered the seminary movies from distribution to help you in your home study course or does the teacher show them? I think you'd enjoy them and they would be beneficial to Max. They're available to all now.

Barb said...

This passage is striking me hard because I just found out an old friend of mine has left the church. I'm having lunch with her in a couple of weeks and these words are the questions I would have for her, although my real (cowardly?) strategy is to just be a friend and if she asks I'll tell her I think she's lost something important, but if she doesn't ask I'm not really planning on giving her a talking to.

Denise said...

Boy, does Verse 12 sum it all up for me. If only I could apply this on a daily, hour-to-hour, minute-by-minute basis. You've just got to love the plan of happiness.

And speaking of love--I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Emily's new banner! You're amazing. (And I'm dying for a new one myself--I just don't have a good photo in mind. . .).

Rebekah said...

I stopped going to seminary senior year and finished through home study up through my first summer term at BYU. I learned so much more this way! I had a less than stellar teacher.

Michelle said...

Reminds me of How Firm a Foundation. "What more can he say than to ye he hath said." Love it!

Susan said...

This kind of committment makes any mother proud. I love it that you loveit and so do I.

Kelly said...

I love Crystal's idea of verse 12 up on a wall somewhere! Really, what could you say more?

Amanda said...

Beautiful words. Verse 12 is wonderful. Why are we so easily blinded by the craftiness of men?

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