The Scriptures

Our lesson in Relief Society today had many points to it that I found thought provoking, things I hadn't thought of before. I didn't take notes, so I'll probably miss some, but I'll try to remember what struck me. First of all, the message came from Elder Todd D Christofferson of the 12 apostles and was entitled, The Blessing of Scripture. He basically said that scripture does 3 things for us: Enlarges our Memories, Distinguishes truth from error, and Brings us to Christ.

He started by talking about William Tyndale who translated the Bible into English in the 1530's. He had sought the approval of Catholic church authorities, who stated translating the Bible into English would be to cast pearls before swine, but he decided to do it anyway. People paid great prices to receive those "illegal" copies of the Bible. If they would pay so much for them, why don't we? (something to think about)

Enlarges our Memories: How does reading the scriptures 'enlarge our memory'? Usually with the ways our minds work, we are either people who learn through lists and direct facts, or though stories. I'm sure that is why the Old Testament and Book of Mormon are story based doctrines, and the New Testament and Doctrine and Covenants are list and direct facts based. The bottom line is whatever we put in is what we will get out, in the was of the Lord. If we put in effort to learn something or study it, the Lord will stretch our minds to hold it. It isn't a one to one ratio, but rather a I do work and the Lord blesses me in the way I need kind of ratio, sometimes making the balance tipped extremely in our favor. We also are reminded of the Pride Cycle (turn to the Lord, be blessed, live blessedly and forget the Lord, full of pride, trials from the Lord due to lack of humility, become humble: repeat) in constant study in hopes of not having to relieve it constantly.

Distinguish Truth from Error: God uses scripture to unmask erroneous thinking, false traditions, and sin with its devastating effects. A gal in the room stated that in the Book of Mormon, Korihor taught there were no absolute moral standards. Korihor's philosophy taught that every man prosper by his genius, conquers by his strength and when he dies that is the end. Alma's son, Corianton had believed Korihor's philosophy and dabbled in sexual sin. He father told him, "Know ye not, my son, that these things are an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea, most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost?” (Alma 39:5) Our worldly morality today is much of the opinion of Korihor, our society has imagined a Jesus who wants people to work for social justice but makes no demands on personal life and behavior. The scriptures are the touchstone for measuring correctness and truth, all things leading to God.

Brings us to Christ: We equated this with having and increasing our faith. Faith comes by the witness of the Holy Spirit to our souls, Spirit to spirit, as we hear or read the word of God. And faith matures as we continue to feast upon the word. As members of the LDS church we have access to over 900 pages of scriptural text. We cannot return to Christ without faith that he exists or rather a spirit to spirit confirmation that he is there. It is then that we use our resources to draw nearer to him.

All these things work together for our sole benefit. Whenever we are lost, distracted, unsure, or hurt the scriptures can pull us up, out of our bereft state and allow us to heal while safely cradled in the Savior's arms.