To The Temple: Walking in the Light of the Lord

Lately I've had the opportunity to read through the Isaiah chapters found in 2 Nephi. I know that, at multiple points of my life, I've found myself skimming or even completely skipping this particular portion of the Book of Mormon or the Bible. The complexity and depth of this particular prophet (or collection of prophets, depending on which school of thought you support) is truly dense, and sometimes it seems to be, in the words of my father, "clear as mud".
However, I noticed the introduction that Nephi gives to his inclusion of the Isaiah chapters, found in 2 Nephi 11:4-8. Simply stated, Nephi desires people to build their testimony of Jesus Christ as they read the words of Isaiah. Many members of the Christian community may stagger at this thought: Coming unto Christ through Isaiah is like trying to get a camel through the eye of the needle! they might exclaim, and sometimes for good reason.
However, with that idea in mind (Isaiah's words bringing us closer to our Savior), I decided to once again tackle the Isaiah chapters, using online commentaries as help when needed. As I've read through 2 Nephi 12-15, or Isaiah 2-5, my mind has been opened to the beautiful truthfulness of the Gospel and the Lord's work.
We see Isaiah begin this particular segment by stating that the following chapters are a vision of the future, and that they will be fulfilled "in the last days"--in other words, RIGHT NOW. We then see him portraying a migration of people of all colors, creeds, and kinships traveling to the "mountain of the Lord's house", or the temple of God, to learn His ways and walk in His light. This image is focused on for only a few short moments, followed by two chapters full of wickedness, pride, death, and destruction. We see the proud, the haughty, the worshippers of idols and money, the covetous, the worldly...and then we see the stark reality that is theirs once the calamities of the sixth and seventh seals are poured out upon the world. We see that the children of Israel are not spared from these horrors and tragedies. And then the content of Chapter 14 smiles upon us, as we see a break in the devastation as God holds close and protects His people.
Chapter 15 then depicts the wickedness of the house of Israel, and their ultimate fate if they are not humbled by the desolation of abomination that the Lord has allowed to happen. The closing verses of this chapter depict the Lord raising up an "ensign" or standard to the nations, which in turn flee to that light.
What is the story that we see here? We see many people flocking to the temple of God, the Zion of Israel, and we see the wickedness of the world and the consequent destruction of its evils. What message could possibly be drawn from these passages?
Well, many scholars have already tackled these words, and I'm going to try to as well. We see a contrast between the righteous and the wicked. We see that the wicked are content to remain in the world, and we see a massive migration of those who want to be good and righteous fleeing to the temple. There they are protected and safe, and the glory of God is a defense for His people.
I'm sure that you can find any number of beautiful applications of Christ in these words. I love the fact that the Savior, who is the God of the Old Testament, and who gave these words to Isaiah and to Nephi and to us, states that He has allowed and sometimes even caused the destruction that has afflicted Israel. But you can also see Him bend down, placing His hand upon a weeping, broken, mud-covered and blood-stained individual. You can see Him stating that His anger is not stretched away, but His hand is stretched out still, to cradle and bless and aid those who leave behind the darkness, the sickness, the destruction that the world promises to them (both spiritually, and some day physically, as we brace ourselves for His glorious Second Coming). With the beautiful imagery of Isaiah 4:4, we see the Savior wipe away the grime and filth that cakes our individual, and then lead that man or woman up the hill, towards the glistening temple of God on the hill. Thousands are thronging to its gates, and there they learn to walk in His ways.
That's another wonderful comparison Isaiah draws in this chapter. Those who walk in the light of the Lord will be afflicted and will have hard times too, but they will have light in their lives. Those who "gone astray, every one to his wicked ways" (Isaiah 2:5) are doomed to remain there, unless they "come with speed swiftly" (Isaiah 5:26) to that ensign, that light, that standard, that temple, that mountain of the Lord's house.
We see our individual begin running to the temple, along with the others that are coming to its gates. Panning out, we see a valley, and there are other temples there, and lights shine. The presence of God is upon every dwelling-place on Mount Zion, and He protects and blesses those who come unto Him. Yes, there must be repentance, and yes, there will be tears for sins committed, but God has promised, through the fulfillment of the wonderful Atonement of Jesus Christ, that THOSE TEARS WILL BE WIPED AWAY. There will be no more tears. There will be no more sorrow. And even as the storms and darknesses of the world rage, those who come unto the Lord's house will be filled with light.
I think that there's application here for today, right now, and there will certainly be application in the coming years as we prepare for the triumphal return of the Lord to that temple where we now are thronging. We see our individual once again, preparing to enter into the mountain of the Lord's house--a quick glance backwards, and we see a face that is recognizable.
It's ours. It's us. We now are on the journey to find God's light in our lives and make our way to His temple, to keep and protect ourselves from the raging storms of the world.
From this exercise of faith in Nephi's words, I've learned that prophets really do speak the words of God, and that we are able to follow those if we leave behind the ways of the world and walk in the light of the Lord. :)

Coming To Christ: A Personal Journey

Hello everyone! :) I’m currently taking a particular religious course that allows me to study the life and ministry and Atonement of Jesus Christ. As an introduction to said course, the professor has been insistent on our learning of the differences between the Four Gospels in the New Testament that provide the backbone of our knowledge regarding the life of the Savior. Rather than merely harmonizing the Gospels, throwing them all into a blender to produce a combined image of Christ that is far less poignant and far less unique than separate and individual portraits of Him, this professor suggests that we ought to cherish and accentuate the beauty of the four different portrayals of Christ that we see in the Gospels.

            This isn’t to say that one Jesus is better than the other—in all reality, all are Christ, and each Gospel exemplifies a different side of Him that, when understood with reference to the others, makes clearer the actual person of our Savior. That being said, it got my gears turning, and I began to realize something.

            All of the writers of the Gospels focus on different aspects of Christ’s mission and divinity. One focused on His suffering, one on His divine Sonship, while another strove to teach about His fulfillment of the Mosaic Law. These personal testimonies of our Lord are to be cherished both collectively—in showing us that He is God—and individually, in showing us different aspects of the Savior.

            Each of us, too, has a unique understanding of our Lord and King. Each of us can read the Bible text and realize that He is something special for us: that some part of the Savior resonates with all of us. Rather than trying to ambiguously “come unto Christ”, we should be looking for ways to enhance our relationship with Him. How is He our personal Savior? How can we have a personal relationship with Him?

            To better enhance and define this desired personal relationship, God has given us the scriptures, which teach us about the premortal, mortal, and millennial Messiah. He has given us commandments throughout these scriptures, giving us a pattern of living that will allow us to be in harmony with Christ’s lifestyle, thereby enabling us to understand Him better. He has also given us covenants, or binding promises, and ordinances, or sacred symbolism associated with those promises, that not only teach us more about the nature of Jesus Christ, but also spiritually bond us to Him and His Atonement, tightening our relationship and expanding our definition of the Savior of the world. With just a single covenant, we understand Him deeply already—but with an increasing number of covenants, made plain and clear by the mouths of modern-day prophets, we begin to see Him as a truly universal, all-powerful Being worthy of worship, praise, and emulation.

            Maybe none of this makes sense. I’m struggling to write it all down coherently. God has given us our agency, or the ability to choose. As we exercise that agency in accordance with His divine will, as revealed through scripture and Church leadership, we see ourselves becoming more like our Savior. The more we emulate Him, the better we understand Him. We will want to continually build our faith in Him in specific ways, leading to a very personal and intimate relationship with Him. We will want to repent and change, moving away from worldly trends to more holier spheres. We will want to make promises with Him, as did ancient prophets like Noah and Abraham and Moses, that will secure our relationship with Him, obtaining the promise that He will always be our God, and we will strive to always be worthy of that. With each additional covenant, or sacred promise, that we make, we further strengthen that relationship and expand our vision of Who He is—thus necessitating the need for several covenants, and the need for modern-day revelation, that will increasingly expand the parameters of our understanding.

            Baptism and a copy of the Bible will only take us so far. We can better learn about and know and experience Christ as we glean information and knowledge about Him from multiple, divinely acknowledged sources, like modern-day prophets, additional revelations, and more canonical scriptures, meant to bolster the mind and improve our relationship with Him.

            This brings me back to the beginning. God has given us the tools we need to build a relationship with Him—He has given us the necessary materials to come more fully into His presence. He has also given us the agency, the liberty, the freedom, to use these materials to build a unique relationship with Him. Note that we still must go to Church, and read our scriptures, and say our prayers, and make and keep sacred covenants—those are the tools. But how we go to Church, how we read our scriptures, how we say our prayers, and how we live a covenant-making and –keeping lifestyle—that’s up to us. That’s what determines the level of the intimate relationship with God.

            How we choose to use the tools He has given us ultimately affects what our relationship with Him becomes. The more tools we have, the better we can build our relationship with Christ. The better we use the tools we have, the more rich, unique, intimate, personal, and lovely that relationship will be. Those laws of physics and motion and math used to design a bicycle are also applied in designing a car, or a train, or an airplane.

            It really is all up to us. And note as well that the better we use our tools, the easier it will be to discover new ones. The Wright brothers couldn’t have dreamed of jet planes when they first flew at Kitty Hawk. Newton couldn’t have dreamed of nuclear power when an apple fell on his head. Hippocrates couldn’t have dreamed of eradicating entire diseases as he strove to understand the four humors. It’s the same with us—the limits of our relationship with God...well, there aren’t any! There are qualifications and necessary requirements to build that relationship, but within the parameters that these guidelines set, there is an infinite possibility of connection with God. The better defined our qualifications and requirements, the better the ultimate relationship will be.

            Just as the Gospel writers each saw a unique perspective of Jesus, so too can we as we use the tools He has given us to build a more personal relationship with Him. Just as they each bore witness that He is the Son of God, so too can we. Just as they each made covenants with Him, so too can we. And just as they each saw Him not only as a Redeemer for all men, but also as Redeemer for every individual man, so too can we. May we use the tools God has given us—the scriptures, the commandments, the covenants—to build a personal relationship with Him is my prayer.  

The Return of the Missionary (or: There and Back Again, and Then Some)

Hello all! Yes, it's me, Sam. :) I'm back to blogging, and it feels good to do so again. For those wondering, a lot has happened in my life since I got back from my mission. I recommenced my studies at Brigham Young University, I got engaged and married to the most beautiful girl in the world, and I've gotten a job that allows me to work with missionaries every day! What more can you ask for? :)
Recently I've been wanting to jump back into the blogging world, most specifically to continue sharing with others the happy insights that I sometimes stumble across during my perusals of the scriptures. As a missionary, the greatest feelings you have are those generated by sharing the Gospel with others; I wouldn't mind having those feelings nowadays either. So, just in case you were wondering, that will be the main purpose of this blog. Sure, there might be a couple times where I share some fun facts about my life or about how gorgeously wonderful my new wife is, but the main purpose here is to let other people know that: 1) I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, and am continuously striving to come closer to Him; and B) they too can experience the miracle of Christ in their life/lives. For that reason, I guess another name for this blog could be "Catch the Vision"--catch the vision that Christ brought to the world when He was here, ministering in Palestine, and later in the ancient Americas.
What vision is that, precisely? What did Christ propagate to the ancient Semitic peoples of Judea and Galilee?
Among other things, He taught of love and kindness, to those in and outside of your "know circle" or "friend group"; He taught peace and community, emphasizing the need for the followers of God to reestablish Zion in their midst through "one heart and one mind"; He taught obedience to the commandments already and anticipatorily given by a loving Father in Heaven, intent on bringing His children home to Him.
Each of these topics has already filled novels upon novels of the world's finest literature, first and foremost of these being the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, and other inspired writings of men and women, members and nonmembers of the Church alike. What can one more blogpost add to the world? Well, it allows me to share my voice--and though one voice may not be much, I've learned that it can make a difference. It also allows me to share the light that I've been blessed with in my life. I hope that others can come to know the peace and happiness that follows a consecrated life, and, as I sincerely strive to find that type of devoted discipleship as well, I look forward to learning with you, the reader, whoever you may be, how to come even closer to God each and every day. (Just a disclaimer, perhaps a redundant one: I am not perfect, and I am honestly trying to become more like my Savior each day. I want to share what I'm learning here, and invite you to share with me what you've learned as well! :) )
Today I just want to say a word or two about OBEDIENCE. Lately it's been something that my readings of the scriptures keep bringing back up, over and over again. It was the main theme of each of my mission president's sermons, and it was a major quest for each of the missionaries under his direction. Since coming home, I've found myself falling into habits of skipping a day or two of sincere scripture study; I've found myself making excuses about doing Christ-centered activities; I've not gone to the temple as frequently as I should have. In other words, I need to be doing a lot better to be a little bit more obedient.
I think that obedience is a very subjective issue--in other words, only you and God know what specific areas of your life need a little bit more work. For me, some of those areas were mentioned just above. Another such area is a daily "date" with the Book of Mormon. Being enrolled in university, doing several hours of homework a day, going to a job--all of these things suck away life and energy from yours' truly, and I find it very difficult to read God's word each day...or rather, I find it very easy to not read God's word each day.
Today, however, as I was listening to a talk in Church, the realization of my situation hit me. I made a goal to strive to do my best to find an hour each day to spend time with the scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon. I opened it this afternoon, and began reading in 2 Nephi Chapter 2 (for those of you unfamiliar with this Book, or for those of you who have read it, I strongly urge you to pick it up right now and read this chapter! It's amazing! :) ). A couple of verses really stuck out to me:
"[No] flesh...can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise. Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved" (2 Nephi 2:8-9; emphasis added).
What was Christ the "firstfruits" of? Well, this scripture plainly tells us that He was the first to rise from the dead. He was the first to hold all Priesthood keys (including the keys of resurrection and of creation--see Dallin H. Oaks, "The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood"). He was the first to be exalted and receive celestial glory. He was the first to perform the work and glory of God--in other words, take part in the creative process that is characteristic of an exalted Being. And He was the first to be exactly obedient.
But note what these verses say. He was the first--this implies that there were more to come. Christ was the Only Begotten of the Father--the only one of Heavenly Father's children that claims Him as both spiritual and mortal Father. That is contrasted to His title as the first--the first to be resurrected, the first to be exalted, the first to be exactly obedient. There were more to come.
You can almost visualize it in your head: You see Jesus Christ ascend to His Father's throne, and then turn around, His hand reaching down to lift up us--you and me--to stand beside Him. He knows that the path will be hard--He paved it. He knows that we'll make mistakes--He suffered for them, and paid the debt they incurred. He knows that we are far from perfect--He is perfect. And yet He beckons us to follow Him, to walk the path that He paved, to experience life in such a way that we too can be considered fruits "unto God"--we will be His offering to His Father.
This whole blogpost may be slightly tangential, but I hope that I got the point across. I need to be more obedient, and one way that I can be more obedient is by studying from the Book of Mormon daily. I invite you to do the same. As I studied from those holy pages today, I found these gems of truth, these pearls of great price--that Christ was the first, and that we can follow Him. We can be joint-heirs with Him.
Isn't that a happy thought? :)